Category: POETRY

Home. Not Home by Alexandra Kostoulas

I cried as the red moon rose.

We listened to mirologoi that

randomly came on my ipad.

We drank mavrodaphne and ate chocolate.

We spoke of the dead

and of our regrets and our hopes.

In my dad’s village—

where I belong

and where I don’t.
 
Meet the poet Alexandra Kostoulas

Alexandra Kostoulas is an award-winning writer of poetry, fiction and journalism. She is the founder of the San Francisco Creative Writing Institute and cofounder of the Mid-Market News. She has performed her work on stage locally and nationally and is currently working on finishing up her novel Persephone Stolen that weaves in tales of the Persephone myth, the immigrant experience and stolen artifacts. She teaches people to find their voice and unblock themselves creatively every day at Jack Grapes’ Method Writing Program and at SF Creative Writing Institute.

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.

National Poetry Month 2017: Celebrating Greek Poets

Welcome to our latest series, in honor of National Poetry Month, celebrating the work of Greek poets.

This week, we present Greek-American Poet and New York Native Apostolos Anagnostopoulos. He selected the following poem, “Telemachus’ Letter”, because it reminds him of his Greek roots. He said he was inspired to write the poem “to give the opportunity to Telemechus to speak to his father.” 

Telemechus’s Letter by Apostolos Anagnostopoulos

Oh, wise father Odysseus;

Listen to words of your son.

ask of thee to offer council

As I pray for your safe return.

Uninvited suitors torment mother.

They eat of our food,

Drink of our wine.

No woman deserves this,

Let alone a royal queen.

In Poseidon’s oceans do you linger

Or has mighty Zeus cursed you?

Have you fallen amongst comrades?

I will search lands and oceans alike

Until I find you, oh glorious father,

Your stories shall be read in all lands.

Let the gods grant you strength.

Shall I mourn you, oh mighty king,

Or will Athena bring you to Ithaca’s shores?

If so, we shall celebrate and feast,

Make offering to the gods,

Punish those who leave mother in tears.

May they see a painful death.

Oh father, long has Ithaca waited

For their Odysseus to come home
 

Meet Apostolos Anagnostopoulos

Manhasset, NY native Apostolos Anagnostopoulos, a.k.a. Paul, began writing at the age of 13. As a child, he battled a learning disability, and found poetry offered him the ability to express himself in words. Now, 20 years later, he’s a published poet.

Paul has published four collections of poetry. The first, Passions of a Poet, includes some very emotional and raw works. Passions of a Poet 2: Against All Odds, is a very personal work, offering a glimpse at the struggles he’s faced in his young life. It’s illustrated by his cousin, Sophocles Plokamakis. Through These Lenses offers a more mature perspective on the human condition, as he sees it. Subway Stories was inspired by his cousin Sophocles’ drawings of subway riders. Paul wanted to give each one a story.

Passionate about poetry and wishing to offer more opportunities to poets, he founded and serves as trustee for Neopoet, an international online poetry website which has over 4,000 poetry members from 85 countries around the world.