Lesbos, or Lesvos. Shaped, as written by Odysseas Elytis, like a platanus leaf, which “some god, in order to have his fun, severed and blew away in the middle of the ocean”. I see more of a resemblance with a fig leaf. A romantic symbol picked up by tourist brochures, conjuring up images of late Mediterranean …
Tag Archives: islands
The shape of Lampedusa (reprise)
(Written following a trip to Lampedusa, two years after writing The shape of Lampedusa – part 1) After having visited Lampedusa, I see four new shapes in its map. As suggested by this mural on the side of a children’s library in Via Roma, Lampedusa is the shape of a red-hot iron. Not for flattening …
Love at the bottom of the sea
(Re-published from the Passaport Project blog) Ewropa! Intix tisma’ l-imħabba ssejjaħ minn qiegħ il-baħar? Europe! Can you not hear love calling out from the bottom of the sea? Europe ! N’entends-tu donc pas l’appel de l’amour venant du fond de la mer ? Europa! Ben je doof voor de roep van liefde uit de zeebodem? …
