Sunday, August 30, 2015

Dogwatch




Running the Night watch, the 'dogwatch'


  Often my teacher Roxanne
would say that an illiterate man
doesn't differ from a log..

Proof that she was right
                        [is the fog,
my fog, which covers
                                  [all the knowledge
that others gain from having attended 
                         [an university or college.


A question from my ex-wife,

"have you learned
          [nothing from your life?"

I replied that I learned
                         [to read the sky
and to sleep with one open eye.


I learned the language
      [of the sun, moon and stars
like Jupiter, Sirius,
                      [Saturn and Mars,
that orient and guide me
                           [night and day.

I learned to work
       [every Sunday and holiday,
by running the 'dogwatch'*,
                     the predatory one...


I learned not to trust
                     [nothing and none
and always and everywhere
                           [to carry a gun.....

I forgot friends, parents, flirting and fun
and in hearing a suspicious noise, to 
                       [the lifeboats I would run.

These were my basic studies....
                            [and later, with continuous tours,
to broth@ls, I got my PhD* because of my study 
                                                              [on whores !




_____________________________________________________________


*Extract from "The Broken Mooring Line", an experiential
poetic work // page c52// e-mail: pmataragas@yahoo.com //
Texts and Narration: Odysseus Heavilayias - ROTTERDAM //
Language adjustments and text adaptation: Kellene G Safis - CHICAGO//
Digital adaptation and text editing: Cathy Rapakoulia Mataraga - PIRAEUS//

_______________________________________________________________

 

* Dogwatch The Oxford English Dictionary states that the word 'dogwatch' is a direct translation from either German or Dutch of a similar term. It originally referred to the night-watch on ships — that is, the time when (on land) all but the dog were asleep. The name is also said to be derived from Sirius, the "Dog Star", on the claim that Sirius was the first star that can be seen at night.

 * PhD - Doctorate is an academic or professional degree that, in most countries, qualifies the holder to teach at the university level in the degree's field, or to work in a specific profession. In some countries, the highest degree in a given field is called a terminal degree. Many universities award "honorary doctorates" to individuals who have been deemed worthy of special recognition, either for scholarly work or for other contributions to the university or to society.
The term "doctorate" derives from the
Latin docere meaning "to teach". The doctorate (Latin: doctor, "teacher," from doctum, "[that which is] taught," past participle of (docere), "to teach") appeared in medieval Europe as a license to teach Latin: (licentia docendi) at a medieval university. Its roots can be traced to the early church when the term "doctor" referred to the Apostles, church fathers, and other Christian authorities who taught and interpreted the Bible.



  the tales of a greek sailor  


Tuesday, August 11, 2015

My hate list

                                   


Sailor's Hate List.  

I hated........ my profession,
the reason......
  [for my chronic depression,
and the cause of my multi-annual slavery.

The reason for being forced to consort
                 [with characters often unsavory..




So over time I hated the sea,
the constant travel, and
                   [the constant flee.

I hated the wind and waves,
and my comrades,
         [the same as me slaves ....


If you could see my soul....
                                [it's full of scars,
I even hated the beautiful nights
                                    [and the stars.



I hated each port
with prostitutes in the bazaars
I hated to be a frequenter of
                      [brothels and bars....

Years passed and........
           [my retirement time had come.

Curiously, instead of glad I was glum
when the motorboat
               [was taking me off the ship.

I had a tear and a tremble in my lip
implying perhaps,
                        [some of my own guilt.

Just then I realized
             [that hatred and love coexist


            
and it was completely misleading
                                          [my hate list.


______________________________





*Extract from "The Broken Mooring Line", an experiential
poetic work // page c51// e-mail: pmataragas@yahoo.com //
Texts and Narration: Odysseus Heavilayias - ROTTERDAM //
Language adjustments and text adaptation: Kellene G Safis - CHICAGO//
Digital adaptation and text editing: Cathy Rapakoulia Mataraga - PIRAEUS//





  the tales of a greek sailor  




Sunday, August 2, 2015

Giants and Dwarves



Our vessel sailed the river Río de la Plata
and with a load of flour,
                            [headed towards Calcutta.

The Pacific Ocean denied its name

and with huge waves
      [that name managed to defame....


Poets and writers
                   [very often misled me,
so I became a prisoner of the sea...


      "Smell the sea,
                      [and feel the sky
      let your soul & spirit fly.."



Van Morrison
       [didn't mention the word cry,

the famous Van Morrison
                                    [in his song.



      Believe me, I am not wrong......

      Longfellow writes that "the heart of the ocean
      sends a thrilling pulse through me."
 
 

                                                         [so set in motion
      the imagination of young people and mine....



 After one month journey,
                                [an Albatross was the sign
   that..... we were approaching the shore.

   We, forty dwarves, maybe a little more,
   we the crew.....temporarily won
                            [against the Giant Ocean.


Ι shaved, put on my face after shave lotion
and together with my fellow sailors,
                      we went looking for hookers..





   The next day a bunch of Indian troopers
   came to guard the flour
                                  [and boarded the ship.

   While the Indian officer
                     [was drinking coffee sip by sip,
   he greeted me,
                        [saying hello Indo-European.

   Ι answered Hello dude,

                   but I am a Greek, a Mycenaean..
   I was born where the civilization was born.
   The Indo-European theory
                                           [died at the dawn
   of the decryption of the DNA,
   and after that ended
                the storytellers sway..

The result of this
                   [newly discovered analysis proves
59,000 years continuity of the Greeks
                                         [and lies disapproves...

___________________________________________________    
                               
*Extract from "The Broken Mooring Line", an experiential
poetic work // page c50// e-mail: pmataragas@yahoo.com //
Texts and Narration: Odysseus Heavilayias - ROTTERDAM //
Language adjustments and text adaptation: Kellene G Safis - CHICAGO//
Digital adaptation and text editing: Cathy Rapakoulia Mataraga - PIRAEUS//

_______________________________________________________________



Indo-Europeans, The second half of the 18th and early 19th century. developed by French Coeurdoux (1767), the Englishman William Jones (1786) and by the Germans Fr. Schlegex (1772-1829) and Fr. Bopp (1791-1867) theory of Indo-Europeans.

In theory people from India went to Europe and the 3rd BC millennium arrived in the Ural Mountains and others went to the D. Europe and others since 2000 BC They began to descend to the southern part of the Balkan peninsula as Ionians in 1800 BC as Achaeans and 1100 BC as Dorians.
Later it was seen as the cradle of Indo-European peoples or Iapetus (including other than Europeans and Indians and Armenians, Persians and Afghans) The northern or central Europe and others went east to India and others through the valley of Axios until Greece . That's why there are common words.
Indo-European theory reject recent research of DNA, made by universities in Europe and America, in which he participated and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and had the aim to investigate the biological roots of European populations.
Investigations have shown that the Greeks by 75-80% have Paleolithic origin to 80,000 years ago and by 20-25% Neolithic 9000-3000 BC.





  the tales of a greek sailor