upanddown in Mykonos
departing the Calcutta of Mykonos in a beatup tinycar orange but peeling orangeanddented we review with host Stephano ourtimeonthepartyisland where we drank gingerbeer no gingerale with an American novelist we say nothing about the alcoholfree author calling Stephano’s neighborhood full of buses cars unstable fourwheeled quads versus twowheeled cycles and oh the pickpockets being named by mister writer Calcutta nothing about the depressedeconomyonanisland where shops sell exclusiveluxury goods only that we had a good time in an expensiverestaurant where we ate exotic appetizers but notafullmeal we agree with Stephano 300,000 persons from May to the firstofNovember are too many and the 10,000 left for winter with fewplacestogoforfun and the seasonal exodus of doctors makes life hard on this seaandsun island a bitterness we heard from his beautifulmama carrying the laundry upanddown
peace
I.
in August from Amorgos
we set you free poured
a portion of your remains
into the Greek sea
off a jagged
coast at Agia Anna’s Bay where
wanderers had abandoned
their clothes to dip
in the cool blue water
II.
Greece a place my Beloved
you had yearned to see
with our shawls we made
rooves
over our heads temporary shelter
from the burning rays
of the too close sun
like a Jewish wedding couple
with our shawls we made a home
a home to launch you from
this island birthplace
of your honorary daughter’s
father he loved you
for guiding his child
she loved you for making
her brave
your wife said
for a happy life be sure
to have some younger friends
III.
The next day
anniversary
of your birth the heavens produced
an event not be repeated in this century
total eclipse of the blood moon with Mars rising
what could this red show mean
peace (cont’d. stanza break)
it’s what you my Beloved wanted
me to see the earth covering the light
of the sun
turning the moon ruby red
an unparalleled jewel
while the bloody
war planet stood
respectfully by in peace.
visit to the Backside
Piso Mareia July 2019
after tikanis kala we study
the photos on the walls
Mama Papa Mina’s four
sisters
Marigoulis Polixene
Ioanna Irini
her six brothers
Leonidas Dmitri Georgos
Christos Panneyotis Yannis
I have borrowed Ioanna’s
daughter Katerina for this
visit to the Backside
we celebrate
the trailblazing Polixene who left
this village for America
who kept her door
unlocked even in America
sponsoring Ioanna
Ioanna who wanted more
sparkle than the village
could offer
Polixene who refused
to be buried told her son Nico
I don’t care burn the body
a little secret no one dares
mention aloud as we descend
the steps to the family church
after hearing the unmelodious
clanging bells
Karren LaLonde Alenier is author of seven poetry collections, including Looking for Divine Transportation (The Bunny and the Crocodile Press), winner of the 2002 Towson University Prize for Literature and The Anima of Paul Bowles (MadHat), 2016 top staff pick by the Grolier Bookshop (Boston). Her poetry and fiction have been published in the Mississippi Review, Jewish Currents, and Poet Lore. Her opera Gertrude Stein Invents a Jump Early On with William Banfield premiered in New York City June 2005. She is co-editor-in-chief of The Word Works and Word Works producer of two long running literary programs—Café Muse and the Joaquin Miller Poetry Series. She has an ear for picking up foreign language.