Corfu

Corfu

Odd that the heroine’s name

                Is expunged

From Wikipedia, and she is all.

The girl whose desire is Corfu

                The one found

Masks inked upon her shoulder blade

                On Mykonos where the

Five windmills spin upon a rock above

                Ionian waves.

Diligent hands, taking all that is offered

                The wealth that is given

For the risks she bore, the life that she

                Offered, exposed

And from courage created home, shelter, peace

                Abundance. 

All for the love of a man from the sea

                Like Ulysses, thrown up upon

Her snow covered shore, Calypso of

                Teutonic tongue.  Heiress of the cold.

Poor gypsy, tramp of all the world. 

And for this, like Nabal’s Abigail,

                Beautiful in wisdom, and fair of face

Provoking strength and protection.  The love of

                A man smelling of fish, and sweat, and the sea.   

The reward for all her labor, the travail of fear

                Is thus;  blue skies, bright sun, salt air

Wind through his hair, and the strength of his arm

                White walls, light rooms, tranquility.

The love of a man; kisses. Fast embrace. 

Again, fair Lord, the Natuna Sea,

                Her winds, and this companion

Whose love’s worth is far more than rubies.