From the upcoming novel, Greece Is My Anthi (2023)
From Anthi’s & M’s Wedding
Update 1 – May 31, 2021
When my Anthi smiles
I forget I am mortal
I feel like the sea.
The wedding preparations are going smoothly, since we do not expect any issues, with Goddess Athena by our side. She is the greatest deity ever. I feel like a cheerleader.
Give me an A
Give me a T
Give me an H
Give me an E
Give me an N
Give me another A
ATHENA
We began with 12 guests from Medium; the number of Olympians and thus a good omen, plus Patrick, Eléni, 15 members of Anthi’s family and friends, and Anthi Psomiadou, of course, our special guest. By Zeus, life is good in Greece. I love you, Anthi. I love you, Anthi.
The wedding will last around 25 hours and will be updated every 5 or 7 hours starting on July 5th at 5 am (Greece time or GMT+3) until 6 am the following day.
05 am – Seating chart, music videos, photos, first meal
10 am – Music videos, photos, second meal
05 pm – Wedding ceremony, music videos, photos, third meal
10 pm – Music videos, photos, fourth meal
05 am – Music videos, photos, fifth meal
06 am – Anthi and M leave for their honeymoon
Goddess Athena will officiate the wedding ceremony according to the customs of Ancient Greece. The location of Goddess Athena’s villa/garden will be kept secret for obvious and less obvious reasons. Glaukopis, Goddess Athena’s talking owl (English, French, and Greek) will usher each one present according to the seating chart.
Update 2 – June 22, 2021
Interconnection
may also spell a feature
of being in love.
The wedding preparations are not going smoothly this time around. Even Goddess Athena did not expect this turn of events, namely, Patrick’s unfortunate affliction. The wedding is thus postponed to September 5th. The number of guests from Medium has increased by 5 to a total of 17 (a haiku per its 17 syllables), plus Anthi Psomiadou, of course.
Update 3 – July 8, 2021
While Goddess Athena is a goddess, she seems to act like a human being, without any flaw, of course, unlike our species. I often wondered if there were exceptions to this natural rule. There are no saints, but are there any flawless humans? I would have bet my life that such a being did not exist, that is until I met Anthi Kanéna, my unparalleled Anthi. You may know such a being, although I am sure that if you think lengthily and deeply about your exception, you will find some flaw. I have only been with Anthi for around three months and have written over 300 pieces about her, yet I have not found a single lack. She is too sincere to hide anything. Even her so-called mischievousness is adorable. I must be biased, you may think. I am not, since I arrived to this conclusion before falling in love with her. She exudes everything that is good, and her presence is elating. I feel that I am the luckiest human being, and not only now but who has ever lived. Now, you may think that I have lost my mind. I do not think that I did, since I examined my stance objectively and could not find anything to counter my conclusion. I even asked Goddess Athena, Patrick and Eléni to help me, and they arrived to the same conclusion about our now. However, Goddess Athena confirmed that she had never met or known such perfection as my Anthi. The remaining question that remains, at least for me, is what does she see in me; why does Anthi love me? I am surely not flawless. She hugged me when I asked her about it and her eyes shone. I looked at her, mesmerised, unable to steady my heart. She felt it and kissed me, calming my sea and wiping the wetness that escaped from it by blowing lightly upon my face and kissing me again.
The number of guests from Medium has increased by a score to a total of 37, plus Anthi Psomiadou, of course, and her dog, Robbie.
Update 4 – August 3, 2021
We are 33 days and nights away from this Athenian event, especially that Goddess Athena is going to grace us with her presence and officiate the wedding ceremony according to the customs of Ancient Greece. Glaukopis, her little owl, is going to show all guests, both virtual and real, to their assigned table, which in most cases was determined by chance, or fate if you prefer. Anthi and M; I mean me, see eye to eye on everything under the Sun, the Moon and the stars, with our Goddess guiding us with her wisdom and blessedness. We wish you could all be here both in body and spirit, but circumstances of every sort render this wedding off the map and within our minds and hearts. We will rejoice, nonetheless, and perhaps break a peaceful number of plates on a special Pythagorean triangle made from earth and olive pits. The wedding seating chart includes olive trees that abound all around the tables and chairs, overlooking the sky and the sea, and the featured dog is none other than Robbie, Anthi Psomiadou’s canine friend. It may look wilder in real life, but with a Goddess present, any barking will be silent like a wedding prayer. The number of guests from Medium has increased by 4 to a total of 41, plus Anthi Psomiadou, of course.
Update 5 – August 31, 2021
Let us start with a somewhat suitable song from the celebrated ’70s!
I look at my right hand and count the days (and nights) left till I am officially wedded to my Anthi Kanéna. I look at my left hand and the count is the same. Symmetry is a natural law, although it is rarely perfect. My Anthi is one of the exceptions, although she refuses to admit it, which is also part of her perfection.
O Anthí mou (my Anthi), I love you too. I love both you and your Self. I can sometimes feel you both at the same time, although your Self tends to observe and rarely to participate. She is a voyeur unlike my Self who is in love with you as much as I am. We are basically one and the same when it comes to you, Anthí mou.
Five mantinades, one for each remaining day, and Goddess Athena’s number as well, seem to be at hand. But is it my right or my left?
You see love in my eyes when you look at me with sweet intent,
yet this love is in every part of me rising with your scent.
It has been an Athenian honeymoon since our love’s start,
so, our actual mina tou mélitos1 will make more art.
We have a choice between countless places for our lune de miel2,
but our love for everything blue begs for a clear view du ciel3.
Loving you every moment of each day is mandatory,
since many readers perceive us to be an allegory.
Δεν ήσουν ένα ανοιχτό ελληνικό βιβλίο,
όταν οι σελίδες σου ήταν μπλε σαν τον ουρανό.
Pronounced:
Den ísoun éna anoichtó ellinikó vivlío
ótan oi selídes sou ítan ble san ton ouranó.
Signifies:
You were not an open Greek book
when your pages were blue as the sky.
1 honeymoon, in Greek.
2 honeymoon, in French.
3 of the sky, in French.
The number of guests from Medium has increased again by 4 to a total of 45, plus Anthi Psomiadou, of course.
Anthi’s & M’s Wedding is the fourth chapter of the novel, Greece Is My Anthi, which has at least six main parts, with meals and their recipes, worldwide music videos, photographs of Athens, and a wedding, beside these five updates and numerous pieces of poetry and prose.