Photographs I Never Took

All of these pictures were taken with my Canon between 1st - 5th Sept 2015 in 

POTOS THASSOS - GREECE

I didn't take a photograph of the statue of Robert Burns.
His sightless eyes were looking out over Dunedin,
the most Scottish town in the southern hemisphere,
and there was a seagull, not a pigeon, standing on his head.
I would have called it 'Robbie Burns and Friend.'

And I didn't take a picture of the bus shelter
painted all over with jungle foliage and a tiger
peeping out over the simulated signature of Henri Rousseau.
The title would have been 'This Bus Shelter is a Forgery.'

Neither did I photograph another painted wall,
one round a cemetery full of ornate and sombre tombs,
with a large and skilfully executed advertisement -
Renta Sanitarios Mobiles (Hire Mobile Toilets) .
It would have been called 'Is there no Respect for the Dead? '

I didn't take the photo of a Fijian policeman.
A pity, for he had such a practical uniform,
very smart and cool,
in a tasteful shade of policeman-blue,
based on the traditional sulu
with a striking zigzag hem.
The title would have been 'A Policeman in a Skirt? ! '

I couldn't take a photograph of sunset over Popocatépetl
- although the sun was setting in a red and golden haze,
and the most romantically named mountain is just
what you imagine a perfect volcano should be,
even to the wisp of steam at the peak
– because the sun was actually setting over Ixtaccíhuatl
and 'Sunset over Ixtaccíhuatl' doesn't have quite the right ring
The shape of the mountain is not very picturesque either.
Yes, I would have called that one 'Sunset over Popocatépetl'
– if I could have taken it.

My camera wouldn't focus on the crescent moon
hanging over the Egyptian skyline,
horns pointing up, so close to the Equator,
and the evening star (Venus or some more ancient goddess)
just above and almost between the points.
If that one had worked it would have been called 'Islamic Moon.'

I couldn't possibly have taken a photograph
that would do any justice to the young piano student
in a Hungarian castle
hammering out Liszt as if the hounds of hell were after her,
but if I could, I would have had to call it 'Apassionata.'

And I didn't even have time to get my camera out
to take a picture of the wild humming bird
darting green and unconcerned
among dilapidated tenements in the heart of Mexico City.
But that living jewel shines bright in my memory,
even without a photo.
I don't know what I would have called that one,
and I'm sure it doesn't matter. 

Paul Hansford 

for Carmen

Song At Sunset - Walt Whitman

SPLENDOR of ended day, floating and filling me!
Hour prophetic--hour resuming the past!
Inflating my throat--you, divine average!
You, Earth and Life, till the last ray gleams, I sing.

Open mouth of my Soul, uttering gladness,
Eyes of my Soul, seeing perfection,
Natural life of me, faithfully praising things;
Corroborating forever the triumph of things.

Illustrious every one!
Illustrious what we name space--sphere of unnumber'd spirits; 10
Illustrious the mystery of motion, in all beings, even the tiniest
insect;
Illustrious the attribute of speech--the senses--the body;
Illustrious the passing light! Illustrious the pale reflection on the
new moon in the western sky!
Illustrious whatever I see, or hear, or touch, to the last.

Good in all,
In the satisfaction and aplomb of animals,
In the annual return of the seasons,
In the hilarity of youth,
In the strength and flush of manhood,
In the grandeur and exquisiteness of old age, 20
In the superb vistas of Death.

Wonderful to depart;
Wonderful to be here!
The heart, to jet the all-alike and innocent blood!
To breathe the air, how delicious!
To speak! to walk! to seize something by the hand!
To prepare for sleep, for bed--to look on my rose-color'd flesh;
To be conscious of my body, so satisfied, so large;
To be this incredible God I am;
To have gone forth among other Gods--these men and women I love. 30

Wonderful how I celebrate you and myself!
How my thoughts play subtly at the spectacles around!
How the clouds pass silently overhead!
How the earth darts on and on! and how the sun, moon, stars, dart on
and on!
How the water sports and sings! (Surely it is alive!)
How the trees rise and stand up--with strong trunks--with branches
and leaves!
(Surely there is something more in each of the tree--some living
Soul.)

O amazement of things! even the least particle!
O spirituality of things!
O strain musical, flowing through ages and continents--now reaching
me and America! 40
I take your strong chords--I intersperse them, and cheerfully pass
them forward.

I too carol the sun, usher'd, or at noon, or, as now, setting,
I too throb to the brain and beauty of the earth, and of all the
growths of the earth,
I too have felt the resistless call of myself.

As I sail'd down the Mississippi,
As I wander'd over the prairies,
As I have lived--As I have look'd through my windows, my eyes,
As I went forth in the morning--As I beheld the light breaking in the
east;
As I bathed on the beach of the Eastern Sea, and again on the beach
of the Western Sea;
As I roam'd the streets of inland Chicago--whatever streets I have
roam'd; 50
Or cities, or silent woods, or peace, or even amid the sights of war;
Wherever I have been, I have charged myself with contentment and
triumph.

I sing the Equalities, modern or old,
I sing the endless finales of things;
I say Nature continues--Glory continues;
I praise with electric voice;
For I do not see one imperfection in the universe;
And I do not see one cause or result lamentable at last in the
universe.

O setting sun! though the time has come,
I still warble under you, if none else does, unmitigated
adoration. 60 

Song At Sunset - Poem by Walt Whitman

 http://www.poemhunter.com/poems/sunset/page-1/15665/

Illusion

Vama Veche (historical names: Ilanlâk, Ilanlâc, Turkish: Ilanlık) is a village in Constanţa County, Romania, on the Black Sea coast, near the border with Bulgaria, at 28.57 E longitude, 43.75 N latitude. It is part of the commune of Limanu and in 2002, it had a population of 178.

It was founded in 1811 by a few Gagauz families, originally being named "Ilanlîk". Its current name literally means "Old customs point", named so after Southern Dobruja (the Cadrilater) had been included in Romania in 1913. In 1940, however, that region was returned to Bulgaria, and the village has since lain once again near the border, but the name stuck.

Even in Communist Romania, Vama Veche had the reputation of a non-mainstream tourist destination, which has only grown since the Romanian Revolution of 1989. During the communist era, concern for border patrol sight lines spared Vama Veche the development that occurred in other Romanian Black Sea resorts. It became a hangout for intellectuals; for reasons that are not exactly clear, the generally repressive regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu chose to tolerate this countercultural oasis, as long as people had their identity papers with them. Accommodations consisted of tents or rooms rented from peasants or fishermen.^[2] While camping is theoretically not permitted, to this day, many visitors or semi-permanent residents still stay in tents on the beach.( wiki)

In a forest known as heartbreak
In a clearing in the wood
'Cross a pathway called confusion
Toward the garden of delight

You'll reach the river of desire
And meekly try and cross it
While the valley of love
Keeps avoiding you
Because it's only an illusion
Only an illusion

Upon the hill of high ideals
You begin to wonder if it's real
You are reaching sleep's oasis
You begin to wonder how you feel

But it happens so quickly
It doesn't fit into your scenes
Tossin' and turnin'
The star of so many scenes
It's only an illusion

Writer: Hensley, Ken
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

Uriah Heep Illusion Lyrics

Kavala , GREECE - Summer thoughts

Kavala has always been an important port on the Balkan Peninsula.

Neapolis - Christoupolis - Kavala are its historical names.

It has been inhabited since the Neolithic age.

In the 7th century BC it was a Thassian colony called Neapolis and later it joined the Athenian Alliance.

It gains great prosperity during the Macedonian rule, after Philip II has annexed it, its harbor serving Filippi.The Romans upgraded the major commercial port by having Via Egnatia run through it but at the same time it was made the target of Goth and Hun raids.

Apostle Paul comes to Neapoli to preach the Christian faith in Europe.

Byzantine times, when the town was given the name "Christoupolis" as a prosperous period; however, Normand ravages and Turkish occupation put an abrupt end to it.The important monuments of the old aqueduct, nowadays known as Kamares, dates from that period.

From one arched gate to the other, centuries put on a new face.

History of Kavala

Autumn, Violins and Bach

Autumn

does not fall

nor does it come

Autumn slowly

breaks within me

Because I am a lake

ever faceless

and I am mud

in the dreams of secret

stars

So autumn

no longer falls

nor does it come

autumn takes leave

like a night

guest

Bach, Concerto in D Minor

for TWO Violins

For De