life update + a poem from greece!
where i've been...
Hello, my lovely Substack community! It’s been a while since I’ve posted on here, mainly because I’ve been traveling through Greece while studying abroad! However, now that I’m back, I’ll (hopefully) be returning to a biweekly posting schedule, with a few exceptions.
So, what have I been up to?
For starters, I traveled through Athens, Delphi, Crete, Santorini, and a few other places in Greece, learning about the rich history and mythology of each location, and visiting numerous archaeological sites. It was an absolute out-of-body experience to hike volcanoes, swim in sulfur baths, and finish my day with dinner overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. I’ve never immersed myself in another culture like this before, and this opportunity was invaluable.
I also took some time to write a few poems (if I felt moved to do so) while abroad, and I thought I’d share one of my favorites here, “mountain child.” I wrote it on the way to Delphi, and it was my first real time seeing mountains in Greece, along with the countryside. They were utterly shrouded in mist at a certain point, and it was one of the most magical sights I’ve ever beheld. Not only was I taken aback by their beauty, but they were also the most enormous mountains I’d ever seen in my entire life, and it kind of hit me right then and there that I was actually in Greece, seeing these beautiful mountains which seemed to rise out of the mist the higher we drove alongside them.
Bottom line: I was starstruck by the mountains. Just call me Bilbo Baggins, already.
Anyway, here’s the poem I wrote while we drove through them:
mountain child
i could be a windmill, mountain child,
letting the wind curve my body
perched over the valley,
a bird fixed to its nest. i could take flight
at the sight of you draped in emeralds,
blind to the countryside you melt into.
i would carve you a walking stick, mountain child,
if i could wield a fine point in my hand
as well as i do in my mind.
yet, this love is too new for me to carve
anything out of my craving to never leave you,
though i am impulsive in my craft,
clumsy with intention, ripped
from my breath when i am around you,
schoolgirl and hapless wanderer
smushed into one hopeless being.
i could be happy, mountain child,
looking at you for the rest of my life,
being able to feel you through my gaze,
understanding what it means to be found
in a place i am so easily lost,
in a thought-rambling state of mind,
tongue liquified.
i feel pebbled, mountain child,
a star, a stone in a milky river
of sky and sea. do you see me,
mountain child, for the wonder i hold?
i could be a windmill, mountain child,
gladly, for the rest of my life,
spinning in a never-ending cycle—
i’ll call it a dance.It’s a bit of a love letter, a bit of an ode, a bit of everything, but it’s all emotion (mostly awe) and all me. I may post more about what I’ve learned while abroad (perhaps an essay having to do with mythology in some capacity…), but feel free to let me know in the comments what you’d like to hear more about regarding my travels, if anything!
As always, thanks for reading, and if you have the opportunity to see mountains frequently, don’t take it for granted.