The Great Sea

After the mountains, after the sand

After the miles that turned my hands

To leather and bone, to story and song

I stand where the land ends, and the sea is long

The Great Sea, the Great Sea

It opens before me

Blue beyond blue, endless and free

Is this what you promised, road?

Is this what you saved for me?

A ship from Antioch, sails white and wide

A merchant from Rome, arms open wide

“Welcome,” he says, “from the other side

Your silk, our glass — let the world decide”

The Great Sea, the Great Sea

It opens before me

Blue beyond blue, endless and free

Is this what you promised, road?

Is this what you saved for me?

“Καλωσήρθες, ταξιδιώτη”

(Welcome, traveler)

The road does not end

It becomes the sea

And the sea becomes

Another road…

For someone else…