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On the Cliffs of Sintra

It is said Ulysses passed this way,
On the furthest western point of the world. Beyond was unknowable.
His ship hugged the shorelines and would not challenge open seas
With waves as tall as trees and wind with bite to rip the sails
From a distant wall of steam rising from the flames of Hades.

He climbed among these cliffs on the cluttered coastline
Where jagged rocks are witch’s hats in a brim of foam.
The forces of heaven fill the air with a thick moisture,
And high pitch songs of dolphin penetrates the wind
As the sun finds a crack in the dark wall of clouds.

It is rare to stand somewhere on this earth and feel something.
Behind me are centuries of ruins wrapped in vineyards,
Roads carved in crevasses on the high hills of history-
But in front of me an ocean filled with mythologies
Calling like a Circe to the secrets of the tides.

Last few words: 
On a recent trip to Portugal. High on a cliff is the furthest point west of Europe, Cabo da Roca, overlooking an amazing seascape. Perhaps the oldest city in Europe (Greece, of course, is in Asia) and indeed rumored that Ulysses himself passed through. I loved the feeling of being where he might have stood. Inland on the hills are are ancient ruins and several centuries of very famous castles.
Editing stage: 

Comments

I was hoping you'd visit, your sensibilities are very similar in your work. A certain nostalgia, a very romantic absorption of nature and the human condition...

crack in the dark wall of clouds. I liked the "k's" and the stresses in the phrase...but I see your point.

If you've not been there- Go! Portugal's so close to you, so cheap, good food, wine, and history. Good poets. Check out Luis Vaz de Camoes, around 1550. Their Shakespeare. Great stuff, not too well known outside of Portugal. Then of course there's Ferdinand Passoa....
...

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

author comment

and probably picaresque as well. I have no suggestions for improvements as I think this is nicely and imaginatively written. There are a couple of slight errors which you might want to put right:-
Line 7: I think witches' hats would be better than a single witch's hat;
Line 9: since "songs" is plural, you should have a plural verb to follow: "penetrate".

In your "last few words" (which were helpful) there are two major mistakes!
1. Greece is in Europe, not Asia!
2. Plovdiv in Bulgaria is generally accepted as the oldest city in Europe, founded 6000 BCE, over 8,000 years ago..
.

xxx
Edna
Poet(ess) to the Stars

.
.

xxx
Edna
Poet(ess) to the Stars

good catch with "penetrate" . At that spot in the coastline there are many cone like rocks coming out of the sea like witches hats...

Yes, Greece is apparently Europe, on the borderline. The comments were written as an afterthought, and should be more careful.

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

author comment

Actually, rather than apparently!
On the borderline? Greece has no borders with Asia! Some of the Greek Islands are very near the Turkish coast, and Greece's SE corner is maybe 100km away from the Dardanelles.

Cyprus, on the other hand, really is a borderline case. Geographically it's arguably in Asia, but culturally and legally it's in Europe. Of course the Turkish government of Northern Cyprus possibly see things differently.

Is Mexico in North America? Geographically, obviously yes. But culturally, emotionally, linguistically?
.

xxx
Edna
Poet(ess) to the Stars

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