The Motherland by Georgia Kolias
I left the motherland
It was a Friday night
And for all intents and purposes
I was in San Francisco, California
United States of America
But as I emerged
I crossed a threshold
From the motherland into exile
Never to return
To that fertile land lush
With pulsations of
My mother’s heart
The heart of Greece
For below the gurgling of her intestines
The sound of her blood filtering
Through our placenta
Her voice resonated
Her tongue forming my
Sense of sound
With each swallow, tastes of
Honey walnut feta oregano lemon
Hardwired my taste buds
Her fingers tapping my back
In rhythm with the bouzouki and κλαρίνο
Taught my feet to dance
And through her eyes
Gazing longingly into the pictures
Of family 6756 miles away
She instilled in me sadness
An undying experience of
Exile
Before I left her body
I was already schooled
In the language of loss
Her grief for the motherland palpable
In each gulp of amniotic fluid
In each labored breath and sigh
In each reluctant step on new soil
She left the land and
She left me
Wandering this strange territory
Of divided loyalties
Searching for all time and zones
Without a map for the
Road home
Meet the poet Georgia Kolias
Georgia Kolias is a California-based writer currently shopping her manuscript, The Feasting Virgin, a culinary novel featuring a quirky Greek-American foodie who struggles to reconcile her religious beliefs with her emerging sexuality. She is also seeking publication for her poetry manuscript, The Motherland, a three-generation family biography which uses poetic text and original photographs to explore the themes of diaspora, homeland, and the evolution of family. She holds an MFA/MA in Creative Writing. She regularly blogs for The Huffington Post, and her work has appeared in the Advocate.com, The Manifest-Station, Role Reboot, When Women Waken, and various anthologies. Georgia is represented by Rachael Dugas at Talcott Notch Literary Services. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
GREEK WORLD MEDIA 