Spirits talk of spent lives imprinted
on rock formation, breathing and animating
the vibrations of old souls that once inhabited
the sanctuary of communing mountains
seen and felt by those endowed with grace
and eyes that see beyond archaeological remnants:
thought spoken through images, broken limbs,
headless torsos, split potteries, cracked walls,

along with conserved heritage of
Olympia’s golden age expressed in myths and beliefs
that helped shape and mould lives,
stories told of victories and tragedies,
oracles at Delphi that foretold
of battles won and kingdoms lost,
reading meanings of spirit-appointed
utterances of young girls in a state of trance.

At Meteora, murals in monasteries
were museums of soul thought patterns
inspired by the faith of the Greek Orthodox tradition
illuminating the ascending awakening spirits
of mortals seeking earthly connection to divine light
through the Christ and the Virgin Mary.

Today rock climbers aspire,
moved by the collective unconscious,
to reach mountain heights of humanity’s realisation,
and heal the wounds and frailties of the ungodly,
contesting the material achievements of mammon,
the apex of the illusionist who reaps self-absorption
of individuality, disintegration, deceit and disconnection
with revelation, history, and community.

Battles were won and lost, it seems,
but the war of the spirits appears to reign
in intensity symbolised by guns and roses
by one of the soldiers guarding
the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul.

The world stands in tension, living the paradox
of affluence amidst a sea of refugees
who seek nothing more than the opportunity
of sheer survival in paradise lost.

Meteora, indeed a sacred space,
recalls the spirits that inhabited
the monasteries encrusted in holy mountains
that touch the souls of knowledge-seekers
now ordained with the task of lighting candles
in meditative prayer to stir hearts and minds,
remember our roots, and once more
spread the gospel of peace and hope,
and the gift of eternal life.