World Poetry Day: How Inspired Do You Feel?

Close your eyes. Listen. What do you hear? What do you feel? Open your eyes. Look. What do you see? What are you thinking? Breathe in the air, taste the atmosphere, feel the wind pass over your face, and let inspiration overcome you. Put into words this single moment in time; preserve your experience; share it with the world: it’s World Poetry Day on March 21st.

Poetry is not an art form reserved exclusively for writers, just as it is not a medium enjoyed only by literary aficionados. Poetry, as Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO rightly states, is a reflection of the “universal in human experience, the aspiration for creativity that crosses all boundaries and borders, of time as well as space, in the constant affirmation of humanity as a single family”.

And, further to poetry, when is this more faithfully recreated than in the very essence of travel: seeking out new horizons, across borders, into new cultures, languages, thoughts, and feelings, only to discover the ultimate affirmation that humanity is, after all, a single family?

When embroiled in your daily schedule, running from work to home and back again, aspiring to fulfil all of your duties in between, this epiphany may prove evasive.

But here, at Columbia Hotels & Resorts we are glad and grateful to be able to put our guests in touch with an environment that oozes inspiration: from the Blue Flag-awarded Pissouri Bay, the lushly growing gardens, and the swallows’ nests homed in our grounds, to the vineyards growing fruitfully in the surrounding village, and the locals always willing to share with you the beauty of their home, none will be left wanting in their search for peace and poetry.

Need proof? We asked our team to write a short poem inspired by Columbia, and here’s what they had to say…

Reflections of calm
Alive with vibrant colours
Echoes of sweet dreams
-Demetris Ioannou, Front Office Manager

Call out, hear the sea reply,
Only you and I here lie;
Lullabies soft and low sing sweet,
Until dawn awakens and brings us to our feet.
Make our way into times long past,
Beyond our borders, we find at last
Insight into this whole new world:
A treasure trove; an oyster’s pearl.
Columbia
– Maria Iosifaki, Reservations Office

There was once a cat named Valentine,
All Columbia’s guests cried ‘He’s mine!’
At the hotel, he lives,
Good cuddles he gives, That funny old cat named Valentine.
-Anthea Vikis, Marketing Manager & Columbia Cat Care Manager