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	<title>Vasilios Theodorakis - An Online Author</title>
	<link>http://theodorakis.org</link>
	<description>theodorakis.org is a digital repository of all my written work (in text and podcast formats)…</description>
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		<title>Invasion Day &#8211; The 224 Year War Continues.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Each year on &#8220;Australia Day&#8221;, my wife and I visit the location of local Aboriginal midden grounds and pay our respects to the original people who lived on the land that we now live on. In 2009 I wrote the following piece for us to read each and every year until this country acknowledges and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2012/01/26/invasion-day-the-224-year-war-continues/</link>
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		<title>Dark Forces and Time?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Let&#8217;s put aside disbelief in the spiritual realm for the purposes of this post, and let&#8217;s imagine for a moment, a world where the dark forces had no sway on the universe in which we live &#8211; let the mind run with that idea for a few minutes. What would reality look like? No inflicting [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2011/12/01/dark-forces-and-time/</link>
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		<title>What Happened To 2011?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[One begins endeavours like theodorakis.org with such high hopes, and maybe that&#8217;s what leads to their undoing. Lowering one&#8217;s expectations and factoring in physical limitations may not be such a bad thing for someone like me. Looking at the date of my last post, its obvious that something went wrong, but let&#8217;s not dwell on [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2011/11/25/what-happened-to-2011/</link>
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		<title>Private Channel</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s a 1987 New Twilight Zone episode called &#8220;Private Channel&#8221; that revolves around a teenager who uses an annoying &#8220;headphones based radio&#8221; (like a Walkman) in a public setting. In this story the teenager&#8217;s behaviour is presented as being abnormal. How things change! The other night, while catching the train home, I decided to carry [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2011/06/03/private-channel/</link>
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		<title>Graphical User Interfaces</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Dear Apple and Microsoft, Please bring back GUIs &#8211; Graphical User Interfaces that make sense. Mac OS 7.1 or Mac OS 7.6 did just fine, even Windows 3.1 made some sense in regards to applications, files and folders. Our current (operating systems) OSs make no sense at all in relation to real world analogies. Its [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2011/05/27/graphical-user-interfaces/</link>
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		<title>Commitment To Curb The Stirring&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[After the last few posts, I&#8217;ve had a number of complaints about how much I pay out on the medical profession. In response to these complaints, I&#8217;ve decided to keep my &#8220;bagging&#8221; to a minimum from now on. After all, the good medical practitioners, have managed to keep me alive in spite of the bad [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2011/05/20/commitment-to-curb-the-stirring/</link>
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		<title>How Do You Feel Jim?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In Star Trek – The Original Series (TOS), McCoy (the doctor) would often ask James T Kirk (Jim – the captain) how he was feeling. What a bizarre notion this is for Australia&#8217;s public hospital patients – real concern from a bureaucratic medical professional – now that’s an oxymoron! I’ve got to say, I have [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2011/05/13/how-do-you-feel-jim/</link>
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		<title>Lilly</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Today I lost a very dear and elderly friend who went by the name of Lilly. She died in the company of her sister Fiona, who together with another sister Ruby were triplets from a by gone era. None of the three had partners or children. What makes the death even more tragic, is that [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2011/05/09/lilly/</link>
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		<title>Time Marches On</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Yet again I&#8217;ve lost another three months due to medical dramas. Thanks to what my doctors jokingly call &#8220;constitution&#8221; however, I seem to be a &#8220;hard dying kind of guy&#8221;, so lets resume where we left off in February. I&#8217;m pleased to say, the blog&#8217;s stats show its readership continues to (patiently) revisit the site, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2011/05/06/time-marches-on/</link>
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		<title>Still Here!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m back and I appear to have survived &#8211; at least for the time being. ;) My operation, according to my neuroradiologist, was a technical success. The problem blood vessel in my brain has been blocked (I have images to prove it), the &#8220;24 hour a day&#8221; deafening noise is finally gone and the risk [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2011/02/04/still-here/</link>
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		<title>Invasion Day &#8211; The 223 Year War Continues.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Each year on &#8220;Australia Day&#8221;, my wife and I visit the location of local Aboriginal midden grounds and pay our respects to the original people who lived on the land that we now live on. In 2009 I wrote the following piece for us to read each and every year until this country acknowledges and begins [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2011/01/26/invasion-day-the-223-year-war-continues/</link>
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		<title>D Day</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The hour of my neurological operation has arrived, and I approach it with much apprehension. There are far too many things being left undone and I worry about the burden I might leave behind for others &#8211; especially my wife. So much still to be said, but I know if something does go wrong, another [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2011/01/18/d-day/</link>
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		<title>Why Are We Here?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[While we&#8217;re on the topic of quotes, another saying I created for myself (in order to make sense of reality) was the following: “Why are we here?” “We are here to add a new shade of colour to the rainbow of life.” This was written and shared with friends and family in the late 1980s. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/12/03/why-are-we-here/</link>
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		<title>Against All Odds</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Between 1980 to 1984 (while I was aged 13 to 17), I lived my life according to a saying I had formulated for myself. The origins of the mantra are somewhat hazy, but I know it came out of my need to redress “an education label” I had been given early on in my schooling [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/11/26/against-all-odds/</link>
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		<title>The Deserving</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The most irritating and disturbing thing I hear coming out of people&#8217;s mouths in Australia is &#8211; “I&#8217;ve worked hard and I deserve all the rewards I&#8217;ve received!” It flabbergasts me – it&#8217;s just dumb luck that these people were born into a well resourced and rich country. They could just as easily have been [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/11/19/the-deserving/</link>
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		<title>Working With Death</title>
		<description><![CDATA[During the course of my own ill health, I&#8217;ve met both young and old patients who&#8217;ve been handed a death sentence by our medical oracles. As might be expected, I&#8217;ve found both age groups embrace or reject the inevitable and live their remaining time accordingly. What&#8217;s stood out however is that young children, if given [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/11/18/working-with-death/</link>
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		<title>Ideas</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There was a time when anyone could come up with a notion, research it, develop it and release it to the public. It didn&#8217;t matter if you weren&#8217;t a specialist and didn&#8217;t matter if you didn&#8217;t have a Ph.D. in the field &#8211; as long as the idea was sound, made sense and could be [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/11/14/ideas/</link>
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		<title>Burying Things</title>
		<description><![CDATA[What is it about our species and its obsession to bury things – both physically and metaphysically? Did it begin when we were hunter gathers and got into a habit of just leaving things lying around because they naturally decayed. Then, when we started using materials that didn&#8217;t break down, like masonry, we had to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/11/08/burying-things/</link>
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		<title>Waiting To Know</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Standing up &#8211; arm led by the firing squad, I&#8217;m shown a chair for my own comfort! And as I sit &#8211; I gag on the reflex to laugh out loud Chimpanzee like, Trying to hide my fear. That my response should revert to a simian Id Is not so strange, Knowing how similar our [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/11/03/waiting-to-know/</link>
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		<title>Important People</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I can honestly say, I feel blessed to have the people who are now part of my day to day life. From the handful of relatives, to my wife and close friends – people who I see face to face and who are there for me as I am there for them – not through [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/11/02/important-people/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 059</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s back to working on my old anthologies and this week&#8217;s poem dates from Christmas 1989. It was written for a work colleague at David Jones who was a great support to many people. Its called: Warmth The author of the week is the great American poet: Walt Whitman. Cheers – Vasilios Theodorakis – October [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/10/29/site-update-059/</link>
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		<title>In The Absence Of Religion</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Years ago, one of my social work colleagues entrusted me with the horrors she experienced during the break up of the old Yugoslavia. Much of what she described is far too graphic for the likes of this little blog, so let me give you the sterilised version. Both her and her husband grew up in [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/10/22/in-the-absence-of-religion/</link>
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		<title>When Political Polling Overrides Commonsense</title>
		<description><![CDATA[While listening to the radio during this week&#8217;s unseasonal rain, I had the misfortune of hearing our illustrious premier, Ms Bligh, comment on the state of water restrictions in Queensland. Her public statement being &#8211; &#8220;our polling of the community indicates that people are happy for us to leave in place the current water restrictions, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/10/15/when-political-polling-overrides-commonsense/</link>
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		<title>When Does Sport Become Immoral?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Despite what goes on in Australia, sport should be an adjunct to life not the basis to life. If everything else is going well and there is time left over in the day, then sport, especially something like athletics, is a wonderful thing to add into the mix of a balanced life. I should know [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/10/11/when-does-sport-become-immoral/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 058</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I seem to be on a role with commentaries about everything and anything at the moment, so I&#8217;ll keep uploading them and hope the material doesn&#8217;t get too boring for people. This week&#8217;s pieces include two very recent commentaries and one short poem about the industrial and inhumane slaughter of domestic animals in Western countries. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/10/08/site-update-058/</link>
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		<title>Living In The Grey</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Those living with a log in their eye should not be preaching to those living with a splinter in theirs. Reference – Matthew 7:3 We are unfortunately surrounded by institutions and personalities who claim a holier than thou stance, yet in reality do despicable things to other beings or have despicable personal lives. There are [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/10/04/living-in-the-grey/</link>
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		<title>Am I An I Or A We?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We are a collection of cells working in unison, but what does that mean? Each cell is a life form and can exist separately, but does each cell therefore have our personality and soul? Or does the personality only become apparent and is only an expression of the group of cells that makes up our [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/10/02/am-i-an-i-or-a-we/</link>
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		<title>Oceans Of Misery</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Rivers of blood pooling across the planet. Terra bound screams keeping aliens at bay. Murder of sentience on a massive scale. Humanity will answer for all that it&#8217;s done. Losing its right to its current existence. Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2010]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/10/01/oceans-of-misery/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 057</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Golden Bridge was written just after I was physically revived in the P.A. Hospital in 1991. The initial version was written on the 29th August of that year. Its based on life&#8217;s link between the invisible and visible world – the living and the dead. i.e. our minds. Its subject matter is an imaginary [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/10/01/site-update-057/</link>
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		<title>Roller Coaster</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In 1995, a friend who had the flu, unintentionally gave me an ear infection that lasted for months – I should also add that being pharmacologically immuno-suppressed didn&#8217;t help matters. Once the infection passed I was left with residual noise – a whooshing sound tied to the beat of my heart. Thinking nothing of it, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/09/21/roller-coaster/</link>
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		<title>Vocational Education?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It astounds me how our political leaders don&#8217;t understand that new ideas come out of endeavours that aren&#8217;t necessarily associated with well defined jobs. Do they really think that people like Einstein came up with the “Theory Of Relativity” through their job training? The theory came out of Einstein&#8217;s thought experiments! The current paradigm, that [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/09/14/vocational-education/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 056</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This week&#8217;s commentary talks about the day Australia matures as a nation. Its simply called Maturity. The author of the week is another Science Fiction great – Edgar Rice Burroughs who wrote the Barsoom Series about civilisations on Mars. People might better know him as the author who created Tarzan. And finally, I can&#8217;t let [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/09/10/site-update-056/</link>
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		<title>Maturity</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Australia will have matured into a real nation only when it embraces its entire history and only when it sees its existence as stretching back more than 40000 years, not just 212! Until we accept that indigenous history is also the nation&#8217;s history, and until the average person on the street understands and is proud [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/09/06/maturity/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 055</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This week&#8217;s upload includes my last outstanding post which deals with the notion of reflection. The piece touches on one of my medical conditions and how anyone can get on with life no matter how bad the circumstances – that is, as long as one doesn&#8217;t give up. It&#8217;s called: Beaten And Bloodied We Crawl [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/09/03/site-update-055/</link>
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		<title>Creating A Nest</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Statistically, we are one of the few high order creatures capable of procreating without first preparing a safe and stable environment in which to raise our young. Almost all other complex organisms will try to build a nest (or equivalent) before bringing forth the next generation, but since we&#8217;ve managed to separate out our sexual [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/09/01/creating-a-nest/</link>
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		<title>Contact From The Future</title>
		<description><![CDATA[None of us will ever hear from the future unless, we hand down the ideas (through story) and the ability (through invention) to reach back in time and speak to ourselves. Those of us who choose to do nothing will in turn, never change the course of history, let alone communicate with it. Alternatively, those [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/08/31/contact-from-the-future/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 054</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Having fallen behind in posting material to the blog, this week&#8217;s update includes a backlog of nine pieces which have now been uploaded. Special thanks go out to my friends John M. and Sofronios E. who&#8217;ve repeatedly contacted me, checked I was OK and enquired as to when my next posting would go up &#8211; [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/08/27/site-update-054/</link>
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		<title>Post Election Day &#8211; Or Is That Post Australia Day?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Australian author David Malouf once said that Australia’s national day only happens every 3 years, and that day is the day of our federal election. Why? Because it epitomises all that is good about Australia and being Australian. i.e. That people can show up in an orderly fashion at polling booths and peacefully re-elect [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/08/22/post-election-day-or-is-that-post-australia-day/</link>
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		<title>Beaten And Bloodied We Crawl Forward</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Most people have annual days of reflection. Whether religious, cultural, sporting or personal these days allow individuals to take stock of their circumstances, reassure themselves that everything will be OK, take a deep breath and keep moving forward with life. People often come unstuck however, if they don&#8217;t stop to reflect at all or spend [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/08/20/beaten-and-bloodied-we-crawl-forward/</link>
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		<title>Helen&#8217;s Blog</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I believe everyone has an interesting story to tell – even if some people&#8217;s stories are more interesting than others. ;) Though nominating my wife&#8217;s life and her stories night be viewed as somewhat biased, she does work with small children who often have provided her with amazing and humorous anecdotes. As a gift, I&#8217;m [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/08/13/helens-blog/</link>
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		<title>The Sacrament Of Story</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The ability to story tell is fundamental to the human condition. In many ways it probably differentiated us from other hominids and allowed us to prevail in our ecological niche. This idea is hinted at in the human palaeontological record but there isn&#8217;t enough data to empirically prove it yet. So with story, our sense [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/08/06/the-sacrament-of-story/</link>
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		<title>Privilege Is The Western Lifestyle</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Unless one has travelled or is aware that their ancestors were also displaced by war, poverty or persecution &#8211; it&#8217;s hard to imagine that the rest of the world doesn&#8217;t live as we do. i.e. that most of the world&#8217;s people aren&#8217;t immersed in a safe, stable and resource rich context. Even the poorest of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/07/30/privilege-is-the-western-lifestyle/</link>
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		<title>Window To The Invisible World</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In Orthodox Christian Theology, icons are not merely religious works of art. They are very literally windows to another time and/or place – its not hard to see why as a child I hoped my bedroom window would also take me to other places. (Please see last week&#8217;s post on &#8211; “Window To The Visible [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/07/23/window-to-the-invisible-world/</link>
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		<title>Window To The Visible World</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As a child I used to dream of being able to look through my bedroom window and seeing what ever I could imagine appearing on the other side of the glass – a person, a scene, another world. As an adult, I can now ask my computing devises just about anything and up will pop [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/07/16/window-to-the-visible-world/</link>
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		<title>Xenophobes Are Not Racist?!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Politics is the art of targeting the lowest common denominator. If that denominator proves to be an immoral or unethical “stance on an issue” then societies go backwards and become indictments of themselves. Just take the current political discussions on asylum seekers. During the course of a week, the Labour Party and its new leader [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/07/09/xenophobes-are-not-racist/</link>
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		<title>Where We&#8217;re Up To</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This piece was written on the 1st February 2010, but was never uploaded to the blog due to all our time going into dealing with our psychotic neighbour. Now that we&#8217;re finally back on track and that I&#8217;m able to upload regular postings, I thought it might be relevant again. In 2007 this blog was [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/07/02/where-were-up-to/</link>
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		<title>A new PM</title>
		<description><![CDATA[If it hasn&#8217;t already become apparent, my politics have always been left wing and green. If you know anything about the Theodorakis clan, this shouldn&#8217;t be much of a surprise. In fact, what would be a surprise is if one grew up as anything other than left wing within a Theodorakis household. Social justice is [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/06/25/a-new-pm/</link>
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		<title>Waiting For Things To Happen</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There are many temporally challenged people in the world. People who sit back and wait for help to show up in the form of money, strangers, friends, family, God, love or politics. People who’ve made themselves overly dependent on others, and people just like you and me who wait and wait &#8211; then wait some [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/06/18/waiting-for-things-to-happen/</link>
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		<title>Pop</title>
		<description><![CDATA[For over ten years my Grant Family name has been &#8211; the &#8220;only if you&#8217;re having one&#8221; lad. I&#8217;ve taken great pride in this badge of honour given to me by Pop &#8211; Jack (John McKinnon Grant) &#8211; the only man I&#8217;ve ever looked up to and tried to emulate. Until I met Pop, who [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/06/11/pop/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 053</title>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Did You Ever Exist?&#8221; is a poem written in 2009 and has seen many rewrites over the last 10 months. It&#8217;s finally in a form I&#8217;m happy with so I&#8217;ve uploaded it for this week&#8217;s piece. My highlighted author for the week is: Octavia E Butler – a brilliant American Science Fiction writer who&#8217;s given [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/06/04/site-update-053/</link>
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		<title>An Australian Name</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It’s 2010 – a name like mine should be recognised as a “good Australian name” by now, just like Kerry O&#8217;Brien and Oodgeroo Noonuccal. Its form was born into this land and has belonged to this country for over 43 years. If individuals don’t understand that a non Anglo-Celtic name is as Australian as an [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/06/01/an-australian-name/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 052</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Following on from my commentary about what we experienced on Good Friday in 2010, is this week&#8217;s piece &#8211; originally written almost a year ago. It has a similar theme to the Good Friday commentary, highlighting how inappropriate it is to systematically prevent people from worshiping in the language in which they think. The piece [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/05/28/site-update-052/</link>
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		<title>On Blogging</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The keyboard may not be mightier than the sword, but pounding it hard enough can  make a lot more noise than steel cutting through flesh! Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2010]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/05/26/on-blogging/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 051</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This week’s piece was written during Easter. Its a personal commentary on how in 2010, an English speaking Orthodox Christian still has to deal with the Church&#8217;s inability to differentiate between the Faith and its parishioner&#8217;s ancestral nationalisms. The commentary is called: Good Friday 2010 The highlighted author for the week is: Henry David Thoreau [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/05/21/site-update-051/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 050</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This week&#8217;s poem was written at the end of March 2010. Its a response to my father discovering that our family&#8217;s olive groves were sold (in secret) years ago by my father&#8217;s sister. This relative, who I&#8217;ve only met once, managed to also squander the proceeds from the sale. The saddest part of the discovery [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/05/14/site-update-050/</link>
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		<title>Lost Time</title>
		<description><![CDATA[After more than six months of harassment, abuse, assaults and vandalism by a psychotic neighbour, the terror seems to have slowed down (for the time being at least). The creative down side to all this, is how much time, energy and resources were needed in order to deal with this idiot. Unfortunately, the ongoing drama [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/05/13/lost-time/</link>
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		<title>Save The Planet?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It never ceases to amaze me as to how much noise people make regarding the environmental impact of humanity, yet, how little they&#8217;re prepared to modify their lifestyles. For example, after thirty years of intensive research (carried out by agricultural departments in universities across the globe) there are now commonly available facts regarding meat and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/05/07/save-the-planet/</link>
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		<title>Burying The Brother Of A Friend</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Tomorrow we bury the brother of a close friend, George. As is often the case in these circumstances, I never got to know Emmanuel as well as I could have, and now it&#8217;s too late. What I do know is that he had a gentle and jolly soul &#8211; he never hurt or caused anyone [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/05/04/burying-the-brother-of-a-friend/</link>
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		<title>Closure</title>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Letting go of a dream is sometimes harder to cope with than death and dying.&#8221; Unless one&#8217;s had to do both its difficult to understand how this could be the case. Unfortunately I&#8217;ve had to abandon both my original dreams and cope with numerous near death experiences. For me, not being able to fulfill my [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/04/14/closure/</link>
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		<title>Good Friday 2010</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I’ve never quite mastered the art of compromise and have paid for this dearly, missing out on financial gain, credibility and peace of mind. Years ago I had the opportunity to become a priest – it’s a long story, but lets just say I knew people who were prepared to make it happen, as long [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/04/02/good-friday-2010/</link>
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		<title>Olive Grove</title>
		<description><![CDATA[That last link to a misaligned past We discover, was discharged long ago. Carried out, by an underhanded swipe At the matriarch&#8217;s resolve; Broken down, until she could stand it no longer And with heavy heart signed away all inheritance. There, on the far side of the blue, we fall on our knees &#8211; dumb [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/03/21/olive-grove/</link>
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		<title>Birthday</title>
		<description><![CDATA[If I had had the ability to offer an honest prediction about my future when I was younger, I would have admitted that I didn&#8217;t know what life would be like 20 years down the track. Why? Because no one had taught me that you needed an income; no one explained that you needed somewhere [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/02/22/birthday/</link>
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		<title>Unsavoury Thoughts</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As an Orthodox Christian I&#8217;m directed to &#8220;focus on God, move towards God, and be like God&#8221; in everything that I do. As a human being however, I continue to fail miserably as an Orthodox Christian. Blessed with the genetics of Cretan pirates and dollops of PTSD drawn from far too many near death experiences, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/02/20/unsavoury-thoughts/</link>
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		<title>Invasion Day – The 222 Year War Continues.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Each year on &#8220;Australia Day&#8221;, my wife and I visit the location of local Aboriginal midden grounds and pay our respects to the original people who lived on the land that we now live on. In 2009 I wrote the following piece for us to read each and every year until this country acknowledges and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/01/26/invasion-day-the-222-year-war-continues/</link>
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		<title>End Of 2009</title>
		<description><![CDATA[For any honest and genuine human being, the battle between the light and dark forces in the universe is very real. So real in fact, that almost everything else we do amounts to and counts for nothing. Being drawn into the battle on yet another front, the year has not ended quite as I had [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2010/01/01/end-of-2009/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 049</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The third of the Three Parts poem is: Three Parts &#8211; Daisy. It captured a moment of peace in the midst of others bent on inflicting personal chaos and pain. I&#8217;m glad there is a written record of this moment &#8211; without the poem, it would be hard to believe that such moments of grace [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/12/11/site-update-049/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 048</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The second of the Three Parts poem is: Three Parts &#8211; House. Its a short piece about how parents can&#8217;t force a child to maintain a relationship with them even if they&#8217;re living under the same roof. The exact date of writing in January 1990 is unknown. Cheers &#8211; Vasilios Theodorakis &#8211; December 2009]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/12/04/site-update-048/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 047</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s a poem that I wrote at the start of 1990 which was made up of three parts. Each part captured a different feeling I experienced while witnessing the incompetence of my parents in regards to their handling of the harsher aspects of life. The overall poem is called Three Parts, even though each section [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/11/27/site-update-047/</link>
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		<title>Bertimou</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Soon enough, we too will die And finally meet up With the ones who await us, Joining them on freedom&#8217;s perch Which juts out over the river of new life. Sitting tall with a glimmer Of insight in their eyes, Our loved ones will appear and beckon And eagerness will follow faithfully, As together we [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/11/22/bertimou/</link>
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		<title>Blog Break</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Unfortunately, I’m having to take an unscheduled break from posting material to this blog. My &#8220;normal&#8217; work is getting a bit out of control and I need to get it back under control before things get any more crazy. When I start up again, I&#8217;ll be resuming and completing the upload of my first anthology [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/11/06/blog-break-2/</link>
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		<title>Courage and Decency</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In spite of my ranting and raving there are still good people in the world – even if none exist in my own neighborhood! In western secular countries like Australia, you can still catch a glimpse of human decency especially if you stand still long enough and keep your eyes open wide enough. For example, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/10/28/courage-and-decency/</link>
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		<title>The Fence</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Since I was very young, I&#8217;ve given people the benefit of the doubt in spite of their horrid treatment of each other, other creatures and me – no more however – enough is enough! I do not believe that those around us (my wife and I) are really interested in other people’s well being – [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/10/23/the-fence/</link>
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		<title>Cruising Through Time</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Saddled up And wading out, We all embrace &#8211; though tentatively at first, Our golden leaf ticket, Validated by the conductor of our birth. Often &#8211; it takes a while For us to realise, That our bodies Are the carriages, Of nature&#8217;s own time machine. Witnessing change first hand, And reliving the past in our [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/10/15/cruising-through-time/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 046</title>
		<description><![CDATA[What Do I Do With This God? &#8211; is a 1989 poem about a woman who had a tendency to throw her arms up in the air every time something went wrong in life. Instead of trying to address the problem, she would sit at home, pray and hope for the best. Being uneducated and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/10/09/site-update-046/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 045</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This piece touches on how insight and wisdom isn&#8217;t necessarily associated with age. In fact, its sometimes quite dangerous for young people to presume that just because someone is older (like their parents) that they are wiser. If anything, one should study a person&#8217;s behaviour and listen to what sort of things come out of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/10/02/site-update-04/</link>
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		<title>Killing The Dandy Lion</title>
		<description><![CDATA[What once feed us, In times of famine. Is now sought out For slaughter; Alongside the bindies And clover. Dabbed by our solvent touch, We seek the shrivel And death; In search of the perfect lawn. If this doesn&#8217;t define us, I don&#8217;t know what does! Dedication (In response to my wife yelling out&#8230; &#8220;Look [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/09/23/killing-the-dandy-lion/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 044</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This poem was another commentary on how bitter and twisted family members often cease to care about what effects they have on the rest of the family. It is called: Justice??? The author for the week is the Canadian poet and musician: Leonard Cohen. Cheers – Vasilios Theodorakis – September 2009]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/09/18/site-update-044/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 043</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This piece was written in March 1989 &#8211; the exact date of writing was not recorded. The poem was a reflection on the turmoil I was witnessing as my family of origin moved into its final stage of self annihilation. It is called: No Need To Stop Before You Start The author for the week [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/09/11/site-update-043/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 042</title>
		<description><![CDATA[My recent work is an assortment of odds and ends &#8211; technology predictions, metaphysics and social commentaries. Reading a little too widely always sends me off on multi-pronged tangents. :) As of next week however, I should be back to editing and uploading the “Growing Up” anthology. My ongoing aim is to publicly release all [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/09/04/site-update-042/</link>
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		<title>Formal Worship and Nature</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A few years ago, a couple of my nieces decided to put on a “utility play” as a Christmas presentation for all the relatives. Even though the girls came from a family that didn&#8217;t follow any formal religion, they were still aware of the basic Christmas story (through media and friends) and went about trying [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/08/24/formal-worship-and-nature/</link>
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		<title>The Havoc They Reeked!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Nothing left; Just an old man in a blue T-shirt. Bike parked near the nets, He taps at pollution filled oysters, Hoping for a winning, And done in remembrance, Of the bountiful nutrition, That the land Had once bestowed on his people. Never again, Will it be as the ancestors knew. For it was taken; [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/08/20/the-havoc-they-reeked/</link>
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		<title>The Apple Multi-touch Tablet &#8211; A Mouse Replacement?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[OK, OK &#8211; why, might you ask, am I now getting into technology predictions? Very simple really, my wife continues to point out how I have this uncanny ability to predict what companies like Apple are about to release. She thinks I should be sharing these predictions with people other than herself &#8211; partially because [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/08/18/apple-multitouch-tablet-a-mouse-replacement/</link>
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		<title>The Exam Syndrome</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The older I get, the more I’ve come to believe that excelling (and defeating one&#8217;s competition) is for the young at heart, that is, for those who still think they’re immortal, bullet proof and have all the time in the world. Its of course a natural part of youth and is probably one of the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/08/13/the-exam-syndrome/</link>
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		<title>Did You Ever Exist?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Face tarnished &#8211; framed in the midst of flaking silver oxide. Long drawn, is the line Between us and those directed dead eyes. Forever forgotten, Your name remains unknown By all, but those who stood there by your side. And now, paper death Is made real by vacant visions, Drinking in all that appeared Before [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/08/12/did-you-ever-exist/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 041</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This 1988 poem was written as a fairy tale about a frog who ignored true friendships and pursued superficial relationships in his quest for excitement. The frog inadvertently pursues a person who is destined to cast him aside as soon as she gets bored with his innocence and inexperience. Contrary to popular opinion (i.e. that [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/07/31/site-update-041/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 040</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This week’s piece was written about a colleague who’s insight and gentle nature was taken advantage of by a lot of people. She died in the early 1990s primarily from self neglect and over work. I’ve often felt, if it hadn’t been for the emotional vampires that surrounded her, she might still be alive today. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/07/24/site-update-040/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 039</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In the absence of any useful advice or healthy relationship role models, this poem was a question to myself as to whether an infatuation could translate into a &#8220;real&#8221; relationship. The piece is called &#8211; Knowing. While working through this first anthology, I&#8217;ve found my early obsession with love a bit laborious and ridiculously naive. I [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/07/17/site-update-039/</link>
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		<title>Site Update 038</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This 1988 poem touches on the entwined issues of beauty, wanting and longing. As with most of these poems its about a crush I had on someone. The memory and name of the person is long gone but the legacy of the poem is still here. The piece is called &#8211; To Speak Or not [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/07/10/site-update-038/</link>
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		<title>Take A Look Around, This Is What We Are!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[If you happened to walk into our house, you would be assaulted by a myriad of books &#8211; sci-fi, poetry, sociology, psychology, political science, teaching and extremely uncool encyclopedias. Then there&#8217;s the vintage board games, toys and manual typewriters; the music collection with a who&#8217;s who of the 60s, 70s and 80s; DVDs galore &#8211; [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/07/07/take-a-look-around-this-is-what-we-are/</link>
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		<title>Blog Break</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ll be taking a break from blog postings for a period of two weeks &#8211; I&#8217;ve decided to take some time off for holidays. The next scheduled posting will be a poem that should appear here on Friday 10th July 2009. Cheers &#8211; Vasilios Theodorakis &#8211; June 2009]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/06/26/blog-break/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Over the years, I&#8217;ve met lots of different personality types &#8211; some good and some not so good. :) Both have inspired various poems and short pieces which are slowly appearing on this blog. In July 1988 I was working with a wonderful young woman at David Jones (Queen Street Store &#8211; Brisbane) who epitomized [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/06/19/site-update-037/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This week’s poem is from the Growing Up anthology, written in July 1988. Its called &#8211; A Princess Today It touches on the idea that modern western women can be feminine and take advantage of all life&#8217;s options. The highlighted author for this week is the gothic writer: Mary Shelley Cheers &#8211; Vasilios Theodorakis &#8211; [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/06/12/site-update-036/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Staying Invisible and Wisdom Gained, Wisdom Lost&#8230; are my last two commentaries for the time being &#8211; or so I hope. ;) Staying Invisible describes a particular lifestyle and how its informed by an Orthodox Christian world view. Wisdom Gained, Wisdom Lost&#8230; is a social commentary in regards to how current Western cultures over emphasise [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/06/05/site-update-035/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve got a few more commentaries to do next week but after that we should be back to poetry for a while. This week’s piece &#8211; Knight Waiting is from the &#8220;Growing Up&#8221; anthology circa 1988. It discusses the procrastination experienced by a medieval knight who reaches a fork in the road and can&#8217;t decide [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/05/29/site-update-034/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I seem to be going off on tangents at the moment and writing commentaries  on things that have recently come up in conversation about my past. This is not something I intended or intend to continue doing in any big way, but I thought while it is happening, I might as well document the thoughts [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/05/22/site-update-033/</link>
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		<title>Great Is Truth</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Over the central doorway of the Forgan Smith Building at the University of Queensland is a quote that reads &#8211; &#8220;Great is truth and mighty above all things&#8221;. The line comes from the Bible&#8217;s Apocrypha &#8211; I Esdras 4:41. Its Latin equivalent is: Magna est veritas et praevalet, and for centuries appeared on army shields [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/05/19/great-is-truth/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This week&#8217;s piece is a poem from 1988 &#8211; Eroded Innocence It investigates the idea of what might lie ahead for one self if one could start over again as an infant. The highlighted author for this week is the Sci-Fi writer: Alan Dean Foster Cheers &#8211; Vasilios Theodorakis &#8211; May 2009]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/05/15/site-update-032/</link>
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		<title>Wisdom Gained, Wisdom Lost&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Every generation&#8217;s accumulated wisdom has been lost in Western cultures since the 1950s. Why? Because, our over emphasis of youth culture has built into it, the notion of &#8220;re-inventing the wheel&#8221; or should we say, &#8220;re-discovering the wheel&#8221; every time there&#8217;s a coming of age. This ensures that culture regresses to an infantile and stunted [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/05/14/wisdom-gained-wisdom-lost/</link>
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		<title>Staying Invisible</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s a Sci-Fi short story called &#8220;Lets Go To Golgotha&#8221; by Gary Kilworth which explores the idea that time travelling tourists were present at Christ&#8217;s death, got coached to do what the locals where doing and participated in His condemnation. The reader eventually discovers that the locals of Christ&#8217;s time had nothing to do with [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/05/13/staying-invisible/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This week&#8217;s pieces include a commentary and autobiographical snippet written on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. The commentary: Hope For The Planet&#8230; is a thought I had while on the train heading into Brisbane. Pulling into Roma Street Station I noticed a slab of concrete that had grass growing through a crack in its centre. Contrary [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/05/08/site-update-031/</link>
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		<title>Having No Desk&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Back in May of 1989, I had no money, no qualifications and no real job. I found myself in a share house with the Brisbane youth sector&#8217;s very own Casanova, as well as, a chain smoking Japanese exchange student who hadn&#8217;t grasped the notion of emptying an ashtray. Each time he filled a tray, he&#8217;d [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/05/06/having-no-desk/</link>
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		<title>Hope For The Planet&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[What I find hopeful is grass growing out of crevices on a concrete wall or weeds appearing through a crack in the pavement. These defiant acts of nature remind us that life is waiting in the wings for humanity to stumble. And were we to trip and fall, the Earth&#8217;s ecosystem would take over and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/05/05/hope-for-the-planet/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The poem for this week is: A Lie??? This piece of verse belongs to the “Growing Up” anthology and was written in April 1988 &#8211; the exact date in April was not recorded. As with many of my pieces from that era, it too is about the emotional turmoil associated with identifying a partner or [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/05/01/site-update-030/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This week&#8217;s post: Uniqueness is a short commentary based on a conversation I had with a friend about how angry I have become in loosing loved ones &#8211; never to see them again after they die. At a head level I&#8217;ve always found that religion and theology are helpful in dealing with loss, but at [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/04/24/site-update-029/</link>
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		<title>Uniqueness</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Every life form is truly unique. It can never and will never be reproduced on earth. The combination of DNA, environmental experiences and individual responses to those experiences guarantees statistically, that that entity can never again occur in this space time continuum &#8211; this universe. The odds of it happening are virtually zero &#8211; this [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/04/23/uniqueness/</link>
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		<title>Ritual, Spiritual, Gluttony or Growth.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Today is the Orthodox Christian Good Friday. Traditionally, a day for the Apostolic faithful to reflect on life, death and everything in between. It always falls just after the Jewish Passover, in order to acknowledge and pay tribute to the Jewish Faith &#8211; Christ&#8217;s own religion, and to ensure consistency within the Orthodox Liturgical calendar. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/04/17/ritual-spiritual-gluttony-or-growth/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The poem for this week is: Queensland Expo / Expo Queensland This piece of verse belongs to the “Growing Up” anthology and was written in April 1988. It&#8217;s a minimalist piece that captured simple feelings I was experiencing when visiting Brisbane&#8217;s Expo 88. The highlighted author for this week is another scientist &#8211; Steven Hawking [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/04/10/site-update-028/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The poem for this week is: A Cup Of Tea Or A Beer? This is another recent poem and falls into the ungrouped category. The piece is a tribute to Betty Cutlack, one of the few people in our neighbourhood that made us feel genuinely welcome when we bought our place. Betty&#8217;s passing deeply affected [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/04/03/site-update-027/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Brisbane today looks like any other western city &#8211; tall skyscrapers, few public spaces and no character. This wasn&#8217;t always the case, back in the mid 1980s it was still an interesting town with many of its older buildings intact. It also had some very quirky personalties wandering its streets and train stations but these [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/03/27/site-update-026/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The poem for this week is: He Made Her Cry&#8230; This piece is another recent poem and falls into the ungrouped category. Its central theme covers how insensitive many men are in regards to their wives&#8217;s feelings. It&#8217;s based on an amalgam of marriages I&#8217;ve observed over the years and includes some of my own [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/03/20/site-update-025/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The poem for this week is: Imaginary? Playmates. This piece belongs to the “Growing Up” anthology and was written in February 1989 &#8211; the exact date of writing is unknown. The poem is a juxtaposition on last week&#8217;s verse which highlighted how I no longer enjoyed returning to the memories of my childhood. I think [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/03/13/site-update-024/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The poem for this week is: Everything Is OK. This piece is a recent ungrouped poem and captures a sense of well being that occurred while stumbling around outside our house. Such moments of grace tend to be few and far in between &#8211; especially for individuals like me. One can only hope that their [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/03/06/site-update-023/</link>
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		<title>Everything Is OK</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The freshest air, Arrived this morning, with welcomed relief. Facing east And climbing our doorstep, I allowed it to weave back and forth over my face, Brush away my hair, And tug incessantly at my gardener&#8217;s shirt. This simple event Returned me, Though momentarily, To the innocence of childhood. I knew It could not last, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/03/05/everything-is-ok/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The poem for this week is: The Old Child This piece of verse also belongs to the “Growing Up” anthology and was written in June 1988. It was my attempt to document what had happened to a work mate&#8217;s friend in the welfare sector. As a warning to readers, its quite a depressing piece, exploring [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/02/27/site-update-022/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The poem for this week is: Meeting. This piece belongs to the “Growing Up” anthology and was written on Saint Patrick&#8217;s Day in 1988 &#8211; 17/03/88. The theme is fairly obvious i.e. wanting to talk to, and get to know someone (I had a crush on) but being too scared to do so. For better [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/02/20/site-update-021/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The poem for this week is: The Realisation. This piece comes from a series of poems written in 1987 for the &#8220;Growing Up&#8221; anthology. Like many of these early poems, the exact date of writing was not recorded. The posted date is therefore an approximate &#8211; I do know, that the poem was written close [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/02/13/site-update-020/</link>
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		<title>He Made Her Cry&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Tears falling, Besotted with memories Of things that could have been, She knew She had done nothing wrong; Just stepped outside the line work Brushed in pastel &#8211; that was all. The movement of her hand Coloured the moment, And all rationality Understood it was innocent enough; But there was no sanity In his actions. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/02/08/he-made-her-cry/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The poem for this week is: Unknown Sage. This piece comes from a series of ungrouped poems written in 2001. I’ve also added a link to another author I greatly admire: Greg Bear. Cheers &#8211; Vasilios Theodorakis &#8211; February 2009]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/02/06/site-update-019/</link>
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		<title>Invasion Day &#8211; The 221 Year War Continues.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[For some time now, my wife and I have been wanting to protest the immoral nature of celebrating Australia&#8217;s national day on the day that for many Indigenous Australians represents the genocide of hundreds of Aboriginal Nations across the continent. Irrespective of what mainstream Australian&#8217;s claim the day represents – all that really matters is [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/01/26/invasion-day-the-221-year-war-continues/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The poem for this week is: Respect. This piece comes from a series of ungrouped poems written towards the end of 2008. I’ve also added a link to another author I greatly admire: Oodgeroo Noonuccal. Cheers &#8211; Vasilios Theodorakis &#8211; January 2009]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/01/19/site-update-018/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The poem for this week is: Relative This piece comes from a series of ungrouped poems written towards the end of 2008. I’ve also added a link to another author I greatly admire: Charles Dickens. Cheers &#8211; Vasilios Theodorakis &#8211; January 2009]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/01/12/site-update-017/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The poem for this week is: Trauma . This piece comes from a series of ungrouped poems written towards the end of 2008 and reflects on what people go through who manage various forms of P.T.S.D. (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). I&#8217;ve also added a link to another author I greatly admire: Albert Facey. Cheers &#8211; [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2009/01/05/site-update-016/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As the year comes to a close, I&#8217;ve managed to pencil a few new poems during the month of December. The first to appear online is Shadow Takes Reality. The other new poems (written during this short but prolific spurt) will also appear on the blog before I resume editing older material. Though cutting it [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2008/12/29/site-update-015/</link>
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		<title>Respect</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In a time of upheaval, Nothing can be saved. My kind left behind the plates where they lay, Took only one piece of cutlery &#8211; just a knife, And abandoned their linen To the moths next door. They locked down the doors, Boarded up the panes, Dropped jewelery into wells And fled into the night. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2008/12/09/respect/</link>
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		<title>Relative</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Not a word, not a whisper, Not a finger lifted To query my angst. Empathy ounced In minuscule bags, Is dangled briefly before vestibular eyes Then shoved Into bottomless pockets That shock infect one&#8217;s own expression. The benefit of the doubt As always &#8211; my call, Led to the dysfunctional response. Maybe my witness was [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2008/12/08/relative/</link>
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		<title>Trauma</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Us The lone dogs of war Feel safe - Only when “C” follows “B” and “B” follows “A”. Our need for things to stay the same, To have beginnings, middles and ends – is non-negotiable. For those civilians Looking through our blasted front doors, These regimented lives – these routines, Look restricted at best. How [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2008/12/02/trauma/</link>
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		<title>Date Of Next Post&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Unfortunately this last year hasn&#8217;t quite gone to plan. An acute relapse of an old medical condition has taken centre stage and thrown a spanner in the works of both my writing and normal work. As a result I haven&#8217;t been able to stick to resuming my poetry uploads on the 11th January 2008, as [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2008/10/27/date-of-next-post/</link>
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		<title>Shadow Takes Reality</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Believing nothing I am here Quantified in person Sanctified in self Staring into the mirror And gagging on my own essence. I could not have imagined Such horror as a child. A world where humanity Is inexcusable, and its presence unwanted By its own origins. I grieve for all beings And the good in my [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2008/10/23/shadow-takes-reality/</link>
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		<title>A Cup Of Tea Or A Beer?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Her house, Numbered on a whim, Stood firm against our suburb&#8217;s change - Claiming asbestos as its wonder, Indestructible as it is. Her husband, In conversation &#8211; lit up her eyes. Missed desperately, She spoke fondly Of his construction at the back. Her neighbour &#8211; the one that stayed, Known as possum man to the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2008/10/21/a-cup-of-tea-or-a-beer/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Seasons Greetings to all. This will be my last site update until next year &#8211; so please feel free to revisit some of the year&#8217;s material via the poetry index. I&#8217;ll resume my editing and uploading of verse (drawn from the last 24 years) as of Friday 11th January 2008. It&#8217;s been a long year [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/12/07/site-update-014/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The poems for this week include: - Life - Let It Be - The Oneness Of Man And Woman. From the &#8220;Growing Up&#8221; anthology And: - Cleared City Land From a series of ungrouped poems written in 1998. Cheers &#8211; Vasilios Theodorakis &#8211; November 2007]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/11/29/site-update-013/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The poems for this week include: - Loneliness - A Thought &#8211; No, Just A Feeling… - An Everlasting Question From the &#8220;Growing Up&#8221; anthology And: - Beginnings From a series of ungrouped poems written in 1997. Cheers &#8211; Vasilios Theodorakis &#8211; November 2007]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/11/22/site-update-012/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This is the first week of my new posting format i.e. three old poems and one new poem per week. The poems for this week take the total number to 40. Editing and uploading has occurred for 13 consecutive weeks. The titles include: - Love - Parting With An Incapacitated Friend - Completeness From the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/11/14/site-update-011/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As highlighted on the 26th September 2007 &#8211; I need to stay realistic and accept what is working and avoid things that aren&#8217;t working. i.e. I need to fine-tune the format being using to get this material (poetry) online, otherwise I risk abandoning the process altogether. Lets review what has worked so far and what [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/11/07/site-update-010/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[After talking to a number of people, and after experiencing my own &#8220;cringe&#8221; associated with this early work, I’ve decided to mix in a more recent piece with each week’s postings. Though this early writing is a genuine reflection of where I was at during the 1980’s, its not much of a reflection of what [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/10/31/site-update-009/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This week’s selection comes from 1983 &#8211; i.e. the “Growing Up” anthology. It includes: - The Universe &#8211; Force - Nationality - Time My voice is almost back to normal, so I should be able to add audio versions for all subsequent postings. I&#8217;ll also endeavour to add an audio component to the last three [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/10/24/site-update-008/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The next few weeks of poetry come from a long ago era, written by a still healthy, bright eyed, naive youth who was all of 16 years of age. Bands like &#8220;Huey Lewis &#38; The News&#8221; were big around that time, hairstyles were even bigger and Commodore Computers were all the rage. I barely recall [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/10/17/site-update-007/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The poems for this week are quite recent &#8211; written in 2004, 2005 and 2007. Unfortunately I&#8217;ve come down with a bout of laryngitis, so the audio versions of these pieces will have to wait for a later date. This posting concludes the ungrouped material which I&#8217;ve used to kick start the site. As of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/10/10/site-update-006/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[All poems this week come from 1992 and focus on societal issues from that time. The interesting thing about their subject matter is that even after 15 years, Australia (as a society) is still struggling with the problems these poems describe. The selection includes: - Casting Off The Handed Down Toxin. - Chaos In Sterility [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/10/03/site-update-005/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[So its time to get realistic and accept what is working, and stop trying to force something that&#8217;s just not happening. i.e. I don&#8217;t have enough time to work on my material three (or more times) a week. What is working? Being able to spend at least half a (working) day to a full (working) [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/09/26/site-update-004/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The last few days have been unusually busy, so I&#8217;m uploading all material simultaneously (yet again) just in case I don&#8217;t get another chance this week. The selection includes more poems from the early 1990s. - Me? You? …Us. - Happy Endings… - To Quell The Racism… Cheers &#8211; Vasilios Theodorakis &#8211; September 2007]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/09/19/site-update-003/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This week&#8217;s three pieces have been uploaded simultaneously again &#8211; my appologies to those of you who are visiting each day. Hopefully a staggered upload will start happening sooner than later. The selection includes some of my favorites from 1994, 1993 and 1991. - Cotton, Steel and Plastic. - Soul Port - Too Fast. Cheers [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/09/15/site-update-002/</link>
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		<title>Site Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[For visitors not using an RSS Reader, I&#8217;ve decided to add a weekly post explaining where the new material has appeared. This week&#8217;s three pieces have been uploaded simultaneously instead of appearing in a staggered manner. Normally, this &#8216;site update&#8217; will appear at the end of the week providing a summary of the work that [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/09/05/site-update-001/</link>
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		<title>Fountain Of Youth</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I have a number of aquaintances who go through the motions of talking about mortality &#8211; which I suppose is better than no discussion of the topic at all. The problem is, as soon as I walk away from that ‘metaphorical table’, they go back to living lives based on the illusion that they will [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/08/28/fountain-of-youth/</link>
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		<title>About The Audio Versions Of Poems</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As you read through the verse that&#8217;s appearing on the site, you&#8217;ll find a link to an audio version of each poem just before the copyright declaration. At this stage, all recordings are available as MP3 files and should be playable on equipment like iPods, computers, etc. At a later date, special poems will be [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/08/27/about-the-audio-versions-of-poems/</link>
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		<title>What Does Selfless Service Really Mean?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[People often miss the point of their &#8216;Judaeo-Christian faith&#8217; especially in regards to &#8216;selfless service&#8217;. We ignore what our belief systems tell us to do and instead do what makes us feel ‘warm and fuzzy’. In the end, free will (for better or worse) ensures we all ‘believe’ what we want to believe, even within [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/08/24/what-does-selfless-service-really-mean/</link>
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		<title>Waiting For A Sign</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Somehow, I don’t think life is about what God can do for us (i.e. nudge us, tell us what to do, give us a sign), its about what we can do for Him and creation, without expecting anything in return. Its the privileged who’ve really gotten this concept back to front. To quote an old [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/08/23/waiting-for-a-sign/</link>
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		<title>Is Christianity Still At Its Beginning?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[If humanity doesn&#8217;t destroy itself (through its love and systemic desire for war), I think we&#8217;ll find we&#8217;re only at the start of Christianity&#8217;s history. My hope is that there are (at least) ten&#8217;s of thousands of years ahead of us. Every time I raise this idea with Christians, people get very upset. So many [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/08/23/is-christianity-still-at-its-beginning/</link>
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		<title>One Truth</title>
		<description><![CDATA[What ever religion we follow &#8211; there is still only one Truth. All Mysticism and Spirituality is only a different (better or worse) interpretation of that Truth. You could sift through a thousand religions, but you would still end up looking at the same reality, only through different people&#8217;s eyes. I continue to view reality [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/08/23/one-truth/</link>
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		<title>Signs</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There are no need for signs. Life is the sign, breath is its proof &#8211; all we need to do is open our eyes. Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2007]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/08/23/signs/</link>
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		<title>Welcome &#8211; Finally :)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Its taken so long for this site to launch that I was certain I had become trapped in a time loop. :) But finally, its here &#8211; a clean design, a few old poems and lots more verse, commentaries and stories to be added in the coming months (and years). Many of the static pages [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/08/19/welcome-finally/</link>
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		<title>Cleo The Cat</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Heart felt angst Wells up inside, Tightening Its spring Until it bursts As hairball Tumble, Landing flat Upon the twisted ire Of a life long loss. To voice a goodbye Free falls away Favouring fate That follows Endings of uncrossed paths. This thought, again replayed - Is layed out in full, Brushed with care, And [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/07/27/cleo-the-cat/</link>
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		<title>Creativity</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Having brought down the judgement of order, A dandy lion fairy Asserts her ruling over the mindless intellect, Rounding it up And whipping routine out of chaos, Her innocent face Takes on the scowl of a demon. Sweet irony however, Is lost On those in servitude, For the struggle to capture creativity backfires Causing their [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/07/08/creativity/</link>
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		<title>My Wish For Other Writers</title>
		<description><![CDATA[May the angels of the quill be on your side, and may your paper flow freely below pen or processor. Dedication (For Rachel Robinson) Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2007]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2007/04/04/my-wish-for-other-writers/</link>
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		<title>Monkeyed</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Slacks suits Tailor, to imprint On silicone skin. Drawn up hems, Caress all manner Of brushed down hair &#8211; flashed, In the hope That Godless salvation, Will empty Their wretched lives, Into another&#8217;s cup. Transforming That given face, Into the latest magazine mask. Abandoned by light and sugared by thorns, Youth declare meaningless wisdom As [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2006/01/14/monkeyed/</link>
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		<title>Out Of Mind</title>
		<description><![CDATA[What rank are you? You, who claim servitude to God Yet retire, The two legged and the four unto The recesses of the mind. I graze On your absence, Your smug stamp of expression Is a polarity of righteousness, That salts my wounds, Reminding me Of the abandoned-ness Suffered by the the One. And as [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2005/06/03/out-of-mind/</link>
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		<title>A Neighbour Weeding</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Palm planted He reclined Back, in greeting His dawn, of eastern gold. Fingers arched, There was silent focus In the line of his neck, Seeking the little Menace That was Bent On return, And intent, In its struggle To cement permanancy Through forays To conquer, The legancy of one man. Though his Face Turned away [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2004/09/23/a-neighbour-weeding/</link>
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		<title>The Englishman&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Of tempered manner, Refined in stance, Class-ed brow, And fine cut hair. You are, what the colonies were built on. You are the muscle, You are the backbone, You are the worker left behind When empire building Was done with. Yet, you continue the tradition Of all that was best About Queen and Country. Too [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2003/10/12/the-englishman/</link>
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		<title>The Stubbled Face&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[To be alive Is to pry open The vanity, Acknowledge the village square, Breath in the jasmine And dry the morning beams. Foam cover the face, Shave, And shout greetings To friends and family, Who walk the cobblers Not so far below. Simple complexity Begets Low cost richness, For males Of Any Age. Audio Version [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2003/09/23/the-stubbled-face/</link>
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		<title>Rainbow&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Glory oh glorious, Silhouetted against an arch Our frames leap To touch your form. A promise made, A promise kept, You are revealed Full length To the descendants Of Noah. Bay straddled From island to rotunda, You force us To catch our breath, And wonder at majesty Never matched By our hands. Smudging colour, Drizzling [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2003/04/24/rainbow/</link>
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		<title>W.T.C.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Let us not think Too hard Or too long, And it may yet Come to pass, That our Arrogance and Ignorance, Will be forgiven By the seventy percentiles, Who lack and die Each and every day. But I fear Its more likely, That the sandpits Of the mind Will burn the fury Of their eyes, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2001/09/13/wtc/</link>
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		<title>Soldier Blood</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The curbing of rage Sends out needles, Drawn forth to target None other Than the self. Blessed by DNA strands Selected through fight, I am at a disadvantage In a world that values None of the gifts I bring to the pool. The clotting That saved, My knife wielding kin. The adrenaline That carried, Their [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2001/09/11/soldier-blood/</link>
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		<title>Unknown Sage</title>
		<description><![CDATA[His given name - Versatility, Sought solutions Which pooled like cool oil drops on velvet. Had he not lived, Fiction would not have invented Such fantasy. He walked with the Invisible Ones Moulding creation, Long before his Brothers and Sisters Regained the Insight. He was the catalyst Seeding the awakening, But no one ever knew [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2001/08/06/unknown-sage/</link>
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		<title>Curvature</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Forever and ever We circle Our precious home, Not seeing The jewel that wears us as its glory. Taken from the deepest Blue of seas, Souls were broken, Fed upon soil-less food And ground, face first into the desert of safety. But the desert Finally turned to muddied water. And the muddied water Finally distilled [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2001/08/01/curvature/</link>
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		<title>A Lite Blanket, A Brick Wall&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Without disguise Peace is poured into cavities, And I lean As hard as strength allows, Cradled By mortar and wood. So long lived Amongst the elements, My being Was lip serviced By fibro, Fronting as home. And now? I clutch at good fortune Wondering, what next. Were I To entertain confidence, The road ahead would [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/2001/07/17/a-lite-blanket-a-brick-wall/</link>
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		<title>Cleared City Land</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Everything is still. There is no longer pain, Anxiety or fear. There is no longer wanting or darkness. There is open hope. Unassuming, Unconcealed or shielded by metaphor. Free to express and to dream Of better times for the self, And more power to the reality of all people. Gratitude, is what I have come [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1998/05/11/cleared-city-land/</link>
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		<title>Beginnings</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Simply cupped, Hands shake in their capture Of each other&#8217;s Weakness. We are not what we seem. We are the more, The un-quashed voices Of hearts Pounding their way towards the beginning place, Where honesty applauds More loudly Than Baroque patrons of old. We are ourselves, Beyond that of strangers Whose glances are washed away [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1997/06/05/beginnings/</link>
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		<title>Cotton, Steel and Plastic.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[All you have known is gold. The silver spoon of a mobile You hold like a new born Of importance &#8211; beyond life, Of depth &#8211; beyond God, Of people &#8211; but nothing. All that is memorable Is the braid. Plaited to the wrist, Your means of breath, Has become your delusion of oxygen It’s [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1994/06/27/cotton-steel-and-plastic/</link>
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		<title>The Onward Struggle &#8211; Making A Place Of Our Own</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Sister of Wisdom I noticed that your smile had faded, Softened in transience amoungst places of New. And I wondered Whether life had left your soul giving stance. But on seeing the candle still flickering, My heart filled with the Blood Spilt to the floor, Freely offered up by our Brothers and Sisters Through past [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1993/11/14/the-onward-struggle-making-a-place-of-our-own/</link>
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		<title>Going Home, To Rest&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I have sometimes felt the tangible hand of God On my shoulder. Often ignoring the comfort which was offered I&#8217;ve stumbled through the darkness, choosing pain Instead as my companion And wondering why my life has been forsaken. The invitation has always Been there &#8211; the choice to rise beyond the clouds of fatalism To [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1993/10/10/going-home-to-rest/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>Soul Port</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There is this portion Of my heart where forever is held, Cradled in warmth and compassion. Reasoning in its most useful form Cautions without fear, Breath taken above All wonder And known Truth, is just and always felt. It is there that the breeze is never harrowing, That the sun’s warmth reaches the marrow And [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1993/07/17/soul-port/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>To Quell The Racism&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Into the light of doubt Is caste the raising of the sword, Such that, the darkness of salutes Is an angle of structure no more. Its residence then, is not forever. Each chip it makes, each take, Though sometimes mortally wounding May cease its cause through Truth. We in turn, create the oracle of humanity; [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1992/09/15/to-quell-the-racism/</link>
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		<title>The Youth Wage.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Coveted with glitter in the manner of mouths Basted with privilege; A new invention to save us from the dreaded &#8216;R&#8217; word &#8211; he says. &#8216;Recession blues &#8211; Will, Be, Over!&#8217; Yes, that&#8217;s it &#8211; amazing how it didn&#8217;t come to him sooner. The three dollars an hour rate, Huh; Can you believe it!? How [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1992/07/06/the-youth-wage/</link>
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		<title>Chaos In Sterility &#8211; The Western World&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Troubled again is the thought, And as the tear falls In the torrent of a single drop, All is lost before it began; As though the dignity of existence Was a Utopian thing in a far distant place, A place where they knew nothing of humanity And its struggle to just be. All this When [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1992/04/15/chaos-in-sterility-the-western-world/</link>
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		<title>Casting Off The Handed Down Toxin.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There was a Xmas Tree. A fir in the european sense; And a little one &#8211; a boy, Who sat beneath it with a book. So fond of tales was he &#8211; thumb imprinted it spoke. Opened, he would run through the stories To where a section was blank. And often he&#8217;d yell into the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1992/04/13/casting-off-the-handed-down-toxin/</link>
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		<title>The Golden Bridge</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There is a place Where the visible meets the invisible; And there, Beings stroll upon bridges Created out of living, flickering star light, All of which Deposits itself Wherever The life forms choose to walk. Malamati, So long we&#8217;ve both waited. You, for a future for our lineage. Me, for a life. Tonight both dreams [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1991/08/29/the-golden-bridge/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>Too Fast.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There’ll be time enough For hardship, Adult ridden in decisions of pressure. Why not, Let the bright and breath of childhood Saturate their souls for the while. All too soon Toys will be pushed aside With an absence of laughter. So why rush the process Anymore than it must. Let them speak of imaginings, Throw [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1991/03/31/too-fast/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>Happy Endings&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Sometimes, the heart swims in warming Torrents of human good cheer. So enlightened, Filled to the brim of overflow, It gags on a cascading smile &#8211; quite Riddled in the pure delights of now. Triggered by laughter and lemonade trophies, The recline in observation is complete; Diving in, one savours the flavour Spontaneously scribed between [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1990/12/13/happy-endings/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>An Order</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Step aside Oh torch of darkness. For there is a Meadow And Daisy behind your facade; To good to remain unknown, And I will know it before my end. Audio Version (Podcast &#8211; MP3 / 23sec / 183kb) Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 1990]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1990/07/27/an-order/</link>
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		<title>Me? You? &#8230;Us.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I sit with friends And talk; about Love, God and Politics. But mostly about fears; Our fears of inadequacy; of death; of money, testings, authority, good and evil. I cannot blame anymore, Fallacies and faults are as much my doing as others, Especially if I remain inactive. And so? I gather, I organize, I distribute [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1990/01/15/me-you-us/</link>
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		<title>Three Parts &#8211; Daisy</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Quiet&#8230; Painted upon the air Your petals glow with effervescent sound And wink like compound eyes, Designed to ruffle life&#8217;s silent tale&#8230; Audio Version (To Be Added) Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 1990]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1990/01/10/three-parts-daisy/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>Three Parts &#8211; House</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Drenched to the bone, Your madness of demands, Is killing my zest. I bargain, No longer able to love that which &#8220;needs&#8221;; That which cannot separate the menial from the golden. And thus, the stone filled statue stands. Trapped in the place where love will never be! Audio Version (To Be Added) Copyright © Vasilios [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1990/01/08/three-parts-house/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>Three Parts &#8211; Responsibilities</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I hang on with child like vision, As shards of destruction are embedded in my brain. How much longer can I hold the hope of innocence, And not embrace escape and monetary fixation? It seems, my grip is slipping. I must fall and become&#8230; adult! Audio Version (To Be Added) Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 1990]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1990/01/06/three-parts-responsibilities/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>Warmth</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Warmth has no end when doubts simply die, If depth is drawn out of wisdom&#8217;s own tree, And sits upon high to teach us its way, While syphoning pain, sadness and guilt. Alone we must gain its glow beyond par, Facing our heart&#8217;s, own pierced hole, That bleeds sacred rain the world cannot see, And [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1989/12/25/warmth/</link>
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		<title>The Loss Of Love?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Remember this in times to come - Love is not dead, Nor too far gone. For below the sheath, it lives but still. Awaiting times, Which cannot kill. So, will it rise to cleanse our souls? Caress our worries? Save our goals? Futile to think, thoughts like these - As resurrection lies, Through hands and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1989/09/01/the-loss-of-love/</link>
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		<title>What do I do with this God?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[She seeks&#8230; &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Guidance through the Book; &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Wisdom in the sky; &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Refreshments from the twirly knob above the kitchen sink. Then she waits&#8230; &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Knowing the solution will be revealed, &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;For all God&#8217;s mechanistic creations &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Come with instructions and home delivery. Thus&#8230; &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;The only accessories one needs, &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Is the serious, yet cool hard word from a disintegrating [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1989/08/23/what-do-i-do-with-this-god/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>A Father&#8217;s Stand&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Melodrama rules&#8230; It&#8217;s coarse lines, spun out in momentous speech! Symbols in flowing parody Touch on stereotypes, Then formalize in dramatic assumptions, And blackened extrapolations. Such warmth&#8230; aahhh&#8230; drawn from the stills of Antarctic. Such sweetness&#8230; oohhh&#8230; modeled on the taste of fermenting gall. What could &#8216;top off&#8217; such a script, Rooted in a tangle [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1989/08/16/a-fathers-stand/</link>
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		<title>Insight And Wisdom From Parents?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Wondrous things, left in the back of their minds; Gathering dust and cobwebs while grinding life&#8217;s cog. Sad, that so few of them draw from the Spring. Instead, they pretend to know, Fixing things up very nicely, thank you very much! Especially since they haven&#8217;t a clue As to what&#8217;s going on Or how to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1989/06/01/insight-and-wisdom-from-parents/</link>
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		<title>Justice???</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It was thought we lived upon the downs. It was thought we chose life&#8217;s own breath; Yet we look, we gaze, we seek to crush; As though the peace was just a dream, Not known to minds or souls of quest. Twist away, and tear your heart&#8230; Strike at the evil and blind the eye; [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1989/05/01/justice/</link>
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		<title>No Need To Stop Before You Start</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I speak of the world on a frosty clear morn, When all else becomes, but a magical dream; Awaiting a wand raised up in the air, And tapped by a zest and quaintness of speech. I speak of the moon on the steps to the stars, Where teddy bears rest in their travels of sleep; [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1989/03/01/no-need-to-stop-before-you-start/</link>
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		<title>Imaginary? Playmates.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[For our hearts flow freely with the earthly wind, And our souls rise up to thin the clouds, And there upon the cushioned beams, Lie waiting still our childhood friends. Once left behind in air of want, They shadow walk till life&#8217;s own end, And then still sit as canines do, Awaiting steps on woven [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1989/02/01/imaginary-playmates/</link>
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		<title>Her Sadness And Her Strength</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It was like she knew the world&#8217;s own pain; Had touched its heart in times of need; Had shared its sorrow, loss of love; Had cried a tear through courage wrought. And yet, she left no load above; Used no threats to reach her goals. She sat and smiled, Her beauty real, Her face did [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1988/11/15/her-sadness-and-her-strength/</link>
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		<title>Knowing&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[How do we know if love has yet touched? If words can&#8217;t convey its inner most warmth; Whose glow overwhelms the saddened lone heart; And makes it as young as that of our birth. How do we know if it will be true? When world&#8217;s accept passions in its fine place; And know not of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1988/09/15/knowing/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>To Speak Or Not To Speak</title>
		<description><![CDATA[To speak of a longing in the quietest times, Would erase a warmth of magical zest, Laid down in the corridors of the endeared, Where silence enchants, the tranquil air; And touches the heart of the unknown friend. To silence a longing in the rarest of times, Would miss our strength and magical love, Raised [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1988/08/15/to-speak-or-not-to-speak/</link>
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		<title>Someone Special</title>
		<description><![CDATA[To look upon the desert plain, And see a clearness, freshness In the morning&#8217;s light. To look into a golden sunset&#8217;s eyes, And find there beauty, born Of the world&#8217;s own mind. To look through a creek&#8217;s sweet smiling face, And be mystified, by a reality Of unfathomable depth. To look at the words of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1988/07/30/someone-special/</link>
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		<title>A Princess Today</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A soft breeze touched Her silken gown, A soft voice whispered Be not profound. Reach up to heaven And touch the sky, Be yourself And not a lie. For it is a time of freedom, A time of reign, A time to live, Not quite the same. A time to sing, A time to praise, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1988/07/20/a-princess-today/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>The Facades Of Life</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There existed a pond an illusion to be, A wishing well, reaching into one&#8217;s mind. There lived a froggy, amnesia had he, Diving underwater, seeking his kind. &#8220;Why is it?&#8221; said the froggy as the sun rose above, &#8220;That futile are my searches for a friend here today?&#8221; Unable to grasp such a question of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1988/07/10/the-facades-of-life/</link>
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		<title>Knight Waiting</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Upon the wind rode his thoughts, In search of ways to quell the pain; Which tore apart his lively youth, And plunged his future in the grave. Which way to turn while on the path, Lay the quest before his eyes; But nothing showed the lighted way, Bar shadows draped in deathly downs. He slowed [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1988/06/30/knight-waiting/</link>
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		<title>Eroded Innocence</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I look in the mirror &#8211; at the child by my side. He chews on his toy &#8211; with in-depth concern. What will he find in &#8211; the years up ahead? Will ideals but shatter &#8211; his dreams in their crib? Will emotions corrode &#8211; his chances in life? Will his mind be axed &#8211; [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1988/06/15/eroded-innocence/</link>
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		<title>The Old Child</title>
		<description><![CDATA[He could not see where life was going, Or if it would go forward at all. He stood to leave, But sat down again. He waited for a change, For the curtain to be drawn And the scene to end, But it didn&#8217;t. He hoped something would happen But nothing ever did. He did not [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://theodorakis.org/1988/06/01/the-old-child/</link>
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