Proteus and the Thousand Ithacas

Time was an arrow. It flew over the teeming seas, slaying one-eyed giants, piercing Siren song, whispering past disenchanted sea nymphs, taming wild Aeolian winds, and evading the grasp of Poseidon's sapphire fist. Proteus, the Old Man of the Sea, observed how the sea became chaotic after the Trojan war. The god of a thousand faces watched Ithaca change day after day, year after year. He knew that Ithaca followed Odysseus wherever he traveled as it went on its own journey. But he also knew that the Ithacan king would have to one day recognize the Ithaca he once knew and loved. "The thousand brides had been waiting for the groom forever it seemed. But they would have to wait longer. They had blissfully prepared for the prolonged wedding, for they knew the wait would be enriching beyond words. Their earrings were the color of the foaming seas. Their golden hair fell loosely over their bare, sunburned shoulders. Each of the brides exuded the salted fragrance of the sea. Their ornamented brow was creased with worry. A wave of concern swept their shore-brown eyes. Only one of the brides would be wedded to him. Only one would remain firm when the others moved. She would restore his royalty. The touch of her hand upon his would turn the beggar into a king. The bride and beggar would be thrust together by time and tide. The sea would reach the shore, and everything would seem to be as it once was. The king would smile at the bride, and she would smile back. Each would be the other's world, an island and a kingdom, an island kingdom."