My Cretan legend

My one and only Cretan legend

Made the life he lived a belter.

As the amalgamator of the family tether

His hands were always clung to the lever

Keeping everyone together.

From the early years of his life

He braved enemies nationwide.

With his forebear by his side

He was told to bolt with pride

But plunge into battles lionhearted

Undismayed by the loss of his life.

 

He never kept his tricks up his sleeves

He shared his wisdom with his kids

Enlightening with patience the adrift.

Though at times, distant from his world

He bore no malice for any of them

Even when they fought and yelled

Lost in his obliviousness he tholed, reticent.

But I will not be the judge of his fate

Only the writer for the bounty he so generously gave

And became the benefactor of our age.

 

My one and only Cretan legend

One morning fledged and burnt his heathers

And his Cretan friend started to remember:

‘‘He had eyes full of life

Hands that caught and broke stones and ties

His mind like a sharped sword

Making money even in storms

He did it all alone.

To him I owe my affinity for the world

To him I owe the pleasures I will never forget’’.

 

Many thanked him for his service

‘‘The Cretan who redeemed the menace’’

‘‘The one who let the thieves run away’’.

In the Constabulary he wore proudly his cape.

In his uniform he defended his country's name.

But his weapons always had the same place.

He never dominated with threats

But he spoke of kind words.

He was the ruler

But never the punishment doer.

So, his name was engraved on the Postman Park

In that wall his august character left its mark

Commemorating the soldier who fell last.

 

In the days of yore,

He was a merchant who sold goods across the world.

Like the good businessman he was

His dealings were always above board

And made a fortune like no one before.

But he never kept all this wealth to himself

He built houses for his family and friends.

 

My one and only Cretan legend

Endowed everyone with his presence

For even in his apogee

He was the father figure of the church’s priest

Availing the church in all of its needs.

‘‘One of a kind man’’ ,everyone could admit.

 

My one and only Cretan legend

Always tried to make life better

Singing mellifluously for his wellness

And welcoming all of us to life’s fairness.

On his face he always had a beam

No one could make those wrinkles leave

Etched and carved ’til his last minutes

Signalled a life imbued with laughter and bliss,

Wassailing ,festivities and sounds of folk melodies.

And even after years of being overseas

He never forgot his homeland's villages.

He always visited bearing gifts

For his Cretan boys were his pride and joy.

With them he drank wine ’til the morning

Treating those who were part of the celebration’s adorning.

 

Yet at his ceremony none of them came

And I condemn their pitiful claims

For in his bliss, they all stayed.

They visited and enjoyed his array.

They never looked him in his eyes,

They only looked at their prize.

He did it all for the sake of love.

Sacrificing most of times

His dignity and his pride

On the altar of their lies.

 

On his deathbed they vanished.

No one stayed to pay their last respects

To the Cretan legend that was reaching depths

To the one and only who visited everyone in their last day.

No one came

To solace and pray

For a friend that was in ailing pain

For they were weary of the illness

that had enshrouded his brain

And was leeching off his last trace.

 

Only three requited his love

His wife, his daughter and his son,

Stayed behind and never gave up.

Devoted their life and time

To protect and prolong his refulgent light.

For even when he was pacing to his evanescent prime

They never left his side.

Even when they were the ones falling apart

When no one appreciated their deeds in his behalf

They still gave readily their heart.

But I will forever admire the sacrifices they made

I will forever know who ameliorated his pain

And beyond a shadow of a doubt

Though few words he usually mouthed

He saw their struggles and plight

Prayed for them and left with a smile.

 

His untrammelled visits to people he loved

Made him the loyal person he always was.

So even in his darkest holes

He saw visions of the yore

His gone brother he so longed

Killed unfairly even before war

His beloved father from whom he was taught

To fight every battle, he comes across.

They have now all reconnected, I'm sure.

 

But even when war conquered his mind

Sickness engulfed him in fires and lies

Kindness and courage never left his eyes.

Even when he was lost in the wild

Shrieking like a bad-tempered child

He thanked and prayed to God

And never forgot to keep his fingers crossed.

 

But in my mind, I'm still stuck

Stuck in memory lane

That is a price I’m willing to pay

To keep on evermore alive his name

To remember our summers

at the house by the hill

By the mountains and by the sea

To remember him in the branches and in the trees

In the forests and in the breeze

In the chestnuts and in the cliffs

In the marked streets he walked in.

To remember him as he is.

To remember him as long as I live.

 

Before he departed for evermore

We gathered and prayed for his soul

And in these holy seconds

We whispered in his feathers

What we all felt but no one said

‘‘You are the best Cretan legend’’

‘‘You will be remembered forever’’.

 

My Cretan legend is one and only

For his loss made us all so lonely.

His presence at the house by the sea

Is now quiet and still.

He seats at the sofa seat

Fixating his eyes on me

With a warm and wondering gaze

Arousing memories from when we were kids.

Back when he watched my every sweep

Afraid I will fall and hit.

But now I only feel his gentle breeze

Waving to fully grant what I wish

Frozen in time like our childhood dreams

Where we hoped our time together was for keeps.

 

We now all gaze grievously 

at the top he used fo sit.

We close our eyes and we imagine

We imagine we are lost in the past.

When silence did not echo like sirens of the dark.

When I ran to his hug

And he embraced me with all his love.

When I ran to his hug

And I did not know of tomorrow land.

Days without him are a stone in my heart

Slowly closing my eyes

Leading me to my lingering demise.

 

He was my one and only Cretan legend.

And now, one of my greatest endeavours

Will be to keep his memory alive forever.

In my poems and my words

I will blaze his feats around the earth.

His legacy I will seal and protect

With every strength I have left.