Bring her back- Sofia Kioroglou
https://www.outlawpoetry.com/bring-her-back-by-sofia-kioroglou/
Six draped female figures
Greet me on the porch of the Erechtheion
Enchanting maiden dancers beckoning me
With baskets of live reeds on their heads
Waving their hands on the balcony
Immaculately attired and coiffed
The maidens of Karyai weep over their looted sister
Stranded alone in the cold British museum
I try to wipe a tear off their eyes
And all I get is a dirty look
“Not acting is conniving” she whispered
Alas, one angry stare from you is worse than Gehinnom
* Gehinnom is a small valley in Jerusalem and the Jewish and Christian analogue of hell.
https://www.outlawpoetry.com/bring-her-back-by-sofia-kioroglou/
Yes it is hard. The indigenous New Zealand Maori through our national Te Manawa Museum in Wellington have an ongoing programme to bring home various artefacts taken to foreign countries during the 19th century. They would fully understand where you are coming from.
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Sure! It is a bit of a sore point for us Greeks! Thank you very much for reading and commenting. We had an earthquake yesterday that affected two of our largest islands : Lesvos and Chios! A woman died yesterday and a whole village was utterly destroyed!
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Something else we have in common then. We know all about that after our earthquakes last year were so destructive. And our second largest city Christchurch is still being rebuilt after the earthquake of 2011. I hope your Greek isles remain steady from now on. though you are not far from Italy with all its earthquakes.
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Amen!
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The best argument for return I have ever seen
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Your comment has brought a smile to my face! I am so glad it resonated! Thank you!
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I agree with derrickjknight.
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Beautiful poem! I visited Athens in April and completely fell in love with all the beautiful remnants of the ancient Greeks. And I was horrified to see how that Elgin stole those marbles from the Acropolis. And even more when I read that the British Museum refuses to give them back. They belong in the beautiful Acropolis museum. I hope that one day they will be reunited, in Athens, and I’ll go back to see that!
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Amen to that! I am so glad it made the same impression on you! Hope they get reunited soon! Blessings and lots of Athenian hugs to you and your family! cheers, Sofia!
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Thank you, Sofia, big hugs and blessings from Amsterdam to you and yours! And let’s hope that the BM will see the light in our lifetimes!!!
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Great activism in poetry!
Send this poem to the British Museum and see what they say.
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Thank you so very much, my dear friend! It is a powerful poem which I hope will make them bat an eyelid!Warm Athenian hugs to you and your family!
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It’s only a matter of time, and commitment to the cause. It has to return home, where it belongs.
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thank you so much for reading and for sharing my sentiments. Cultural colonialism is a covert form of ethical terrosism
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Very true. I’m an Indian. We know what colonialism is.
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