© Jeffrey C Alfier

In May of last year I visited Crete. I thought of the road running from the town of Chania to that of Iraklion, as it hugged the shoreline of the Aegean. Along the entire length were huge oleanders. An idyllic enough scene, but as I rode that highway I couldn't help thinking of all the invaders that came to Crete's history: the Romans, the Turks, the Venetians, the Nazis. Hence, it seemed that down the long centuries invaders had always come. Perhaps there is something cryptically poetic in the fact that oleander is a highly poisonous plant.

Jeffrey C Alfier
Bonfire contributor