Minoan

July 26, 2026 Poet: Dan Wells Artwork: Minoan by Ann DiSalvo

Minoan

The man titled “Minoan” is standing relaxed, tattooed and pierced,

His back to a wall decorated with a single band of

interconnected spirals, representing…what?...

cycles of history? the focusing and defocusing of attention?

eddies in a stream? projection and perception?

He looks, out of his frame into the middle distance,

off to my right…searching? considering?

He seems confident, that he can deal with whatever

We’ve confronted him with; he’s seen worse, and he knows better

than to let emotions or situations rule his responses

No fear, anger, unrestrained hopes or wild imaginings

can steer him astray

Better to stay the middle course, strike a deal that benefits both

Look how he’s centered that wisdom on his body:

Bull’s head – grab it by the horns, let the power vault you

Breathe in the balance of the inverted labrys

Then, insight: how 2 become 3, infinitely… and finally,

The eye, like the sun radiant on the horizon of the sea,

Seeing the world with the light that it sends…

I and I: the realization, that

There’s as much projection as perception; in this investigation,

There’ll be at least as much speculation as factual citation

I have questions, were I to meet a true Bronze Age Minoan:

- What were the gender power dynamics, the relations and relationships of the men and the

women, the children and the elders?

- Why- and how- did you do the bull-dancing? What the heck?

- How did your cities deal with their shit?

…so much unrecorded in their still unreadable history,

But they were a cultural force for many centuries;

The Greeks, the Syrians, Egyptians and Iberians,

All knew their arts, their crafts, their songs and music,

The taste of their wine, their olive oil, the fruits of their orchards

In this far different time, from this upland Mediterranean clime,

Beautiful valley stolen from the Latgawa, Takelma and Shasta people

I wonder how we will weather this world we’ve wrought;

Will we survive and thrive through earthquakes and volcanoes?

Become less warlike and driven to dominate, less fearful and feared?

Become, perhaps, like the Minoans…

Known for the beauty of our people,

Our artful ways of living, the fruits of the land,

Simply one culture in a diversity of communities,

Living our mortal lives in harmony with the gods of this place