Friday, May 07, 2010

AT THE GREEK RESTAURANT

by Earl J. Wilcox


I go to find genuine gyros,
souvlaki, village salads,
hearty chatter, sounds bouncing
off the walls like broken plates
at a wedding celebration.
 
Today, the buzz is about
Greece ’s great debt,
bankruptcy held off against
all odds because
France and others---
especially Germany---
agree to rescue the country.
 
Once in Thessaloniki
I visited the enormous Jewish
cemetery where now a great
Greek university stands,
as Takis told me of the
horrific days when Hitler’s
tribe almost obliterated
Jewish Greeks during WWII.
 
Neither side would have
believed today’s Germans
have not only heart and mind to
see that Plato & Aristotle
do not rest in destitution,
but also have the will
to insure Greek children,
live a long and happy life.


Earl J. Wilcox writes about aging, baseball, literary icons, politics, and southern culture. His work appears in more than two dozen journals; he is a regular contributor to The New Verse News. More of Earl's poetry appears at his blog, Writing by Earl.
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