I first visited Crete in December 2002 for the wedding of my friends Keith and Maria, who are responsible for the Philhellenes website. I have loved the island ever since. This is a record of that first visit.
My plane lands at 5am: dark palm trees and red sky. The wedding is later today and I must rest.
pithos
about my height
picture me
inside it
peeping out
The day after, my arms ache from circle dancing. I walk to the centre of Heraklion.
narrow pavement
hard to dodge
the butcher’s hare
On the way, there is a display of religious icons inside a small church.
graffiti
on the church wall
icons
This Venetian Fortress (Koules) once protected the harbour.
In the evening, I find a place to eat in the streets opposite Lion Square.
poppy seeds
on white linen
starry night
Minoan civilisation flourished here 5000 years ago: what traces remain in the Cretan psyche?
—At Knossos—
pine needles
between the stones
long ago
white bird
overhead
my shadow
Back in the present, I wait for a bus back to Heraklion.
white sheets
dry on the line
souvenirs
Phaestos is the other major archaeological site on the island. The palace ruins sit high above the Messara Plain.
cool breeze
in my ear
a fertile plain
The meaning of the mysterious disk found at the site remains unknown.
butterfly
in the ruins
I found your wings
indecipherable
before we married
One day, my hosts, the newlyweds, drive with me to the Lasithi Plateau.
high plain
two planes cross
high above us
Another day, I head west to Chania.
lighthouse
a round window
full of sea
Throughout my stay, I spend time at the harbour. You can walk a mile out to sea here.
wind cools
my forehead
flawless
horizon
On the last day I stay at the harbour for hours…
the white boat
leaves nothing
in its wake
Weeks later, back in England, I get ready to go out:
crouching
to tie my laces
cretan dirt
τοῖς ἐγρηγορόσιν ἕνα καὶ κοινὸν κόσμον εἶναι, τῶν δὲ κοιμωμένων ἕκαστον εἰς ἴδιον ἀποστρέφεσθαι
The waking have one world in common; sleepers have each a private world of his own.
Heraclitus, Fragment 89, c. 500 BC
Nigel Gibbions was born in 1965 in Chesterfield, England. He recently completed a degree in Theoretical Physics, after working as an IT consultant for many years. He is now studying for a PhD in Polymer Physics at the University of Sheffield. In his spare time he enjoys listening to music, and writing haiku.