We may come out again into the harbours
of Perdika,
of Aegina Town, Agia Marina, the holy
convent
sailing in from Piraeus, the wind salting
our hair
a full, untouched universe, eager for us to
relive the time
we frequented this place as artists,
as young
fathers, fearless. On the main drag
we drew
hundreds from the cashy for Christ’s
resurrection
feral cats at our feet while we ate, their
mange nakedness
a uniform. And in the bars, the distant bell
of the
gypsy horse elegiac, hymnal, an ablution,

the whole town in fervour. You should
have seen it:
Good Friday it was, our families with us,
the new baby
bulbous, her big onion-head our lucky
laughing coin.
On every corner, a revolving horrorshow
of lamb cooking
on the spit, and as we walked, men of the
fish restaurants
blessed the young ones simply, with a nod;
stoic, responsible
men, men I respect now, not the pathetic
idols of
my youth; musicians and their weak souls.
They betrayed

me. Later, following Christ’s body, the
epitaphos,
drunk, arguing along the cobbles
yeah, but Jesus
was a man wasn’t he? Course he was!
just go with
it then, stop questioning everything!
In Isodia
we gave money to the church, to the blind
lady, a
lit candle each. We, of small virtues.

I still feel a great and humble debt to any
Greek barman
who treats my family and I as their own,
who pulls
a chair out for Aja, mixes make-believe
drinks for
our children, their eyes spinning
misdemeanours
Greek women fawning past them, in love,
agapi mou, agapi mou.
I give teary goodbyes to them, to the
cocktail waiters
and waitresses. They smirk back, as if
to say
this is our job, our life, relax, be with your

family now. (Maybe I’ll retire here, to die in
that sacred
sea; write a film like Saint Jack – nothing
showoff, nothing
complex – something believable, is that
too much to ask?
just a story, one story with a beginning
and end,
of morals; of good people, getting by in
the wronged world).

…

Nick Power is a writer and musician from Wirral, Merseyside. He has had a number of books published by erbacce-press, including tour diary Into The Void and Bright Angel Proof.