Waiting at the gate ...

We're in the airport - 

I'm looking down at shuffling humanity - 

Russian boys with shaven heads offer up their passports - 

Exit visas are stamped with a weary flourish -

Polish girls linger in duty free - 

The beautiful jets wait for us outside the terminal - 

The sky is full of stars - 

22.31

Monday 21 May 2018

Dalaman Airport  

Leaving the garden ...

I looked for the crescent moon in the warm night sky - 

There it was, above the marble house - 

The silent garden was planted with darkness - 

The mountains were hidden from my sight - 

Light spilled from the kindly rooms - 

So many memories walked the fragrant paths that I could not count them - 

I heard again the welcoming greetings - 

I felt once more the warmth of sudden laughter - 

I knew that I would leave a portion of myself within this garden - 

My wonder at its beauty - 

My sorrow at our parting - 

19.22

Friday 18 May 2018

Karabortlen 

Picking loquats ...

We walked through the grove of orange trees - 

Dark greenery cast fragrant shadows - 

In the well house, the circle of water mirrored our faces - 

We took the loquats back to the gracious house - 

I walked barefoot on the warm marble of the terrace - 

Each moment was another pearl of memory - 

09.44

Saturday 19 May 2018

Karabortlen 

The baker's wife ...

We stopped for bread in the village - 

Anne bought four loaves - 

I remembered how I'd wake up in the small house on the hill - 

I'd walk down the steps to the awakening street - 

I'd hand over my worn coins for the newly made bread - 

Six years had passed -  

Yet the baker's wife still greeted Anne with the same gentle smile - 

13.11

Wednesday 16 May 2018

Karabortlen 

Oleanders and clouds ...

I'm sitting in the shade of oleanders - 

The beautiful garden drowses in the sun - 

A red dragonfly settles on the marble path -

I have no need for the watch I wear - 

I will tell my time by the movement of clouds - 

I will measure my green years by the flights of swallows - 

16.54

Thursday 17 May 2018

Karabortlen

 

Swallows ...

We shared the pool with swallows - 

I watched them fly through the joyous air - 

They left their names written in the water - 

Their wings were shaped like an angel's smile - 

16,42

Tuesday 15 May 2018 

Karabortlen 

Balli gozleme

I'm about to eat balli gozleme in Akyaka market - 

Unshaven bravos guard 15 lira tee shirts -.

Ancients sleep in white plastic chairs - 

Village women sell purslane and fennel - 

Pine cones fall from scorched branches - 

I phones chirrup - 

The waiter smiles - yabangis he thinks - 

He brings us the gozleme - 

Honey gilds my tongue - 

12.07

Wednesday 16 May 2018

Akyaka