The view I had when I wrote this piece:

21 April, 1992

It’s a perfect day to sit on a rock, by the beach, in Sappho’s world. Listening to the water lap over the rocks, watching the sun make the blue sea glisten – peace with the world and everything in it, is how this scene makes me feel. I suppose that this really is a pilgrimage, in a sense. I’ve come to pay respects to the birthplace of the woman whose poetry sang the praises of the women she loved. And I think, in a spiritual sense, I’ve found her. And more. The beauty of this place is in its absolute naturalness. In the same way, I believe, that the beauty of love is in its naturalness. Love – in whatever form it takes – is embodied in spirituality, whereas hatred can only be embodied in ignorance and close-mindedness. Spirituality is love, for me, and love is spirituality. I suppose that’s why living without love can be so difficult. If god exists, she exists as the love that one creature has for another – physical, emotional, spiritual, sexual, psychological, metaphorical, metaphysical, elaborate, simple. Love transcends the earth, and becomes the air that we breathe. In that sense, god is love.

Aphrodite, Sappho’s goddess, is a more true deity than any western idea that has been pushed on an unsuspecting world. Fear and suspect replaced love and freedom. Where do we go from here?

I baptized myself in Sappho’s waters.