I have never bought into the concept
that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
That said, I have spent far too long scouring
the small shops of Crete, Santorini, Lesbos,
the back alleys of towns on Rhodes, Corfu,
Naxos, Lemnos, Chios, driven through
Thessaloniki, Patras Piraeus, Heraklion.
Throughout, I’ve carefully marshaled
words and phrases, outlined forms,
honed allusions, alliteration, the odd chiasmus
I’ve even toyed with the ekphrastic,
and am rife with the hope of negative capability.
And yet all I have found are Exaleiptron,
a perfusion of Kantharos, even the odd Keinos.
I’ve held kylix and kraters enough for a lifetime,
amphora and skyphos of beauty and profusion.
But none have come close to what I sought,
a few shards some said were exactly what
I searched for, but Webster says I need
an ornamental vase on a pedestal
preferably with a close top, and you don’t
argue with Webster, so sadly my ode still waits.