They used to offer him quite a lot of ex-votos
erect innumerable small temples
small churches, chapels
at the tops of the rocks, niches
suspended over the sea: him

he who was their protector
the only patron they had been given
Aghios Eolios, saint and fisherman

him they never managed to catch him.

So with the little tallow they had
before dawn
they offered him slim candles
yellow ones, stacked outside
in the sand, on the shore, but he
he was already at sea
already on the open sea
roaming, so that some
believed they saw him
and say he is just like the backs
of dolphins curved just for fun
he was already flying close to the curved waves
changing directions
flying low with his arms wide open
like a swallow
not like a cross, no –
touching the endless sea.

Others standing on the shore of the large Agean
said that when everyone has left
and there is no one there anymore
the sound one hears is his.
Others abuse him furiously say
Rascal! He even stays on top
of the sea swallows' pointed wings.