"Some Greek Writings" by Gregory Corso
IN A WAY
the Greeks today
don't like Acropolis
because
it hovers over them
as though mockingly
as though imprisoning them
in a you-can't-do-better-than-me
abyss
No matter whicheverway
they look
that mark of history
is impossible to miss
WHEN PRESIDENT EISENHOWER
came to Athens
he got a helicopter
and flew it over the Acropolis
and looked down on it
like only Zeus could
I told that to a sharp Englishman
who replied:
He's fortunate he did not fly over it
like Icarus
PHAESTOS IS A VILLAGE WITH 25 FAMILIES
and one taverna
There my friend and I sat
drinking with the tallest Greek in the world
And though he must have been close to sixty
his face and body seemed those of a strong young prince
We could not speak each other's language
but drink after drink we talked about everything
I learned by my little German
and my companion's little Greek
and the others their little French and English
"He shot twenty German officers"
"But he wouldn't shoot a soldier"
"He says they were young and good"
"Now that the war is over and no more officers
he's unhappy"
"He's unhappy because the village has forgotten
his heroics"
He sighed a sigh which seemed to say:
Those were the good old days
Having drunk so much I had to go to the toilet
and so did my friend and almost all the others
There was no toilet
Thus out into the pitch dark we staggered
behind the taverna we went
where
beneath the starriest sky I ever saw
we all did wondrously pee
