Elsiani

I dreamt about you last night.

Your silver hair. Your Elsiani. The black and piercing eyes. Your smile when you just faced me every time.

Last time I saw you you were ‘in between’. Your memories were jumbled photographs of photographs. But clarity came through in stories that you gave me.

I looked at you and asked myself and wondered,

‘What is the secret of longevity?’

Will I be graced with it because I share your genes just like your hands?

Is it good food and rest and all the joys of life in moderation?

Is it being awake and not sleepwalking through your life?

Or is it thoughts of people that keep another’s heartbeat going?

Is it their thoughts that call soul back each time it tries to slip away?

And is this why you held my hands so tight and whispered,

‘Don’t you forget me ‘

For my centurion grandmother Vasiliki Bacolla Moutselou of Elsiani. How could I ever forget you?