The Journey of my life

         

the Journey of my Life

Odysseus should have been my name, But my life was no pleasant game. Unlike my ancestor, distant and grand, To the sea I was resistant; I longed for the land.

They shoved me to the ships—yes, I was torn— To a life of shadows, where the weary mourn. Each mile from my beloved, a step into the dark, A personal Odyssey on a ghost-bound bark.

The ship is sailing… All aboard! Head for the high seas… Help us, Lord. To the ends of the earth, where the horizons flee, I gave thirty-three years to the bitter sea.

I lived a life so stormy, so filled with strife, It could barely be called a human life. I prayed and I pleaded through thunder and rain, To find a way out of the salt and the pain.

And then an Angel saved me, a light in my life… It was Katherine, my wife.

Excerpt from the collection: "Tales of a Greek Sailor"
An experiential journey across the deep blue 

Original Text & Narration: Panayotis V. Mataragas (Rotterdam)
English Adaptation & Linguistic Editing: Kellene G. Safis (Chicago)
Digital Publication & Creative Direction: Cathy Rapakoulia Mataraga (Piraeus)
Contact: pmataragas@yahoo.com

Historical & Biographical Note:

Panayotis was a man adopted by the ocean, only to be broken by its cruelty. The sea was his stepmother, his mistress, and his tormentor. Every time he managed to escape its grip, he felt an urgent, burning need to speak—to testify to everything he had seen and heard. The deep scars he carries are the silent witnesses of those years. Perhaps, writing is the only way to exorcise the ghosts that have pursued him ever since.

The Sea: A Torturous Mistress His journey into the abyss began at the age of 14, within the monastic walls of the "Hydra Merchant Marine Academy." From 1954 to 1958, it wasn’t a school; it was a four-year sentence. There, he endured the cruelty of fanatical upperclassmen and the malice of unstable instructors. Upon graduation, he was cast from the frying pan into the fire—falling into the hands of sociopathic boatswains, broken officers, and captains who had long ago lost their humanity.

The Tales of a Greek Sailor