The letters cut into the stones ...

I traced the letters cut into the stones -

They spelled out names now lost to ancient sunlight -

The boy, lost amongst the reeds - 

The wife with grey eyes and raven hair - 

The sailor who had eaten figs in a perfumed bed - 

The merchant with his purse of gold - 

The lovers entwined under a gentle moon - 

May 2023

Kaunos

The gardener ...

There were lemons in the basket - 

His gentle hands had picked them from the tree -

I would remember his shy smile - 

The frail beauty of his bones -

May 2023

Candir 

The stories of his ancestors ...

We heard the stories of his ancestors - 

The journeys over the dry mountains - 

The wild flowers after the rain - 

May 2023

Candir

The yoruk's garden ...

Lemons scented the garden - 

Earlier, we had eaten mulberries - 

There was shade here - 

Small birds sang - 

There were scattered chairs - 

A notebook left on a table - 

Dark trees cooling the air - 

The sun halfway across the Lycian sky - 

May 2023

Candir

My years are washed away ...

I swim near the white ship -

Look up at the smooth hull - 

At the blue sky below heaven - 

My years are washed away - 

Once more I am a slender boy - 

Fallen out of time - 

Here in this fragrant bay - 

Held by the cool water - 

A pale feather on the turquoise sea - 

May 2023

Off the Lycian coast

Each singer ...

The voices of the choir carry over the water - 

Each voice is a bright feather holding high a wide winged bird - 

Each song its heartbeat - 

Each singer far more than themselves - 

Off the Lycian coast

May 2023

A young god ...

The wind blows time away - 

The white shore rises up from the dark water -

The sum becomes a young god in the sky -

The Lycian coast

May 2023

Bright keels ...

High above the turquoise bay - 

Breathing air scented with sage - 

I wear no watch - 

Far below is the white ship - 

The ancient sea road - 

The memory of bright keels - 

The Lycian coast

May 2023

Achik cay ...

We had lentil soup in the shade of a gracious tree - 

Later, Anne and Jane sipped achik cay -

A shy girl served us - 

Drowsy birds sang - 

A cat dreamed her secret dreams - 

May 2023

MarmarisA

Everything is dream ...

I remembered her smile - 

Her gentle voice - 

How small and brave she was - 

I was sure I saw her - 

A warm wind stirred the gentle greenery -

I head Volkan speak - 

There is only today -

Everything else is dream -

Kizilyaka

May 2023

Thistledown ...

The quiet river - 

Mayflies above the deep pool - 

A blackbird singing - 

These moments - 

Thistledown on the wind - 

May 2023

East Stoke

Becoming air ...

I will dream tonight of jets -

Rising from my dark bed - 

Becoming air -

May 2023

At the ceilidh ...

We danced to old music - 

There was a white moon in a blue sky - 

Memory in the dancing - 

Wild flowers gathered from the dreaming field -

Old bones made young - 

Corfe Castle 

May 2023

Wings made of air ...

I looked down at the windswept sands - 

The wide bay was ribbed with foam - 

Bright waves swept in from the sea -

Inside the cafe, the air was warm and still - 

Sunlight fell on red table cloths -

Somewhere there were quiet voices -

The boy who brought me my all day breakfast -

The girl leaning on the counter -

The invisible people looking out at the sea - 

Past summers' guests -

Returning like swallows - 

Wings made of air - 

Jurassic Rocks Cafe 

Weymouth 

May 2023

The taste of the Northern Ocean ...

I felt a sea wind against my face - 

I wore the rig of a drowned boy -

On my tongue was the taste of the Northern Ocean -

Books Afloat 

Weymouth

May 2023

Not the coronation ...

We danced to James Brown singing babe you did me wrong -

There was red wine -

Grafton was effortlessly cool - 

Weymouth 

May 2023

Wicked skin ...

I'm reading Blood Meridian -

I wear a wicked skin - 

Above me, stars are drowning in the sky - 

May 2023

Fragile birds ...

I seek them out, these fragile birds -

Their nests are dark shelves in The Crooked Book -

Their wings dusted with time - 

May 2023