Tuesday, August 24, 2004

A Walk On The Side Of The Hill:

Fourty five degrees is not something to sneeze at,
But this was only a gentle slope so no worry,
Grass underfoot and green interspersed with ancient stone,
The same grass crowds had sat millennia past,
Olympia was calling her own home,
The bodies glisten in the sun after 2,000 years and more,
The columns dinged and cracked and fallen,
The sea visible off in the distance and salt on the breeze,
The challengers were all hushed with awe,
This was the birthplace of Democracy,Of philosophy and more,
The place where heroes were granted stars up in Heaven,
A place where the strongest youth of all nations journeyed,
The Games are the oldest contiguous tradition,
Maybe, maybe - and then you realize the voting booth,
That and the debate circle are all equal in birthday count,
More or less a crown of olive wreath,
In this place and time where the only war of the moment,
Is an attempt to shatter conceptions of human limits,
In that spirit then let the games begin,
There in fair Olympia.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 08/20/2004

Author's Comments:
I find it utterly fitting that the Olympic games this year are being held back in Greece and at least some of them on the same field where ancient Olympians challenged the limits of human nature in so many brilliant ways. Take a pictorial tour: http://www.magicaljourneys.com/Olympia/olympia-interest-photos.html