I have in mind a group of Istanbul/Byzantium/Constantinople poems, to be linked by short bits of free verse or prose. This is first of the link pieces. I’ll assemble the whole thing later, if I can get there.
The ferry across the Dardanells …
… is an ugly, ungainly thing. It’s a functional angular construction, a mockery beside the elegant ships that shaped the region’s history. It’s a mule beside a racehorse.
But look, here’s a Hollywood moment: on the upper deck, above the cars, above the prow, a couple are leaning on the rail, holding tightly but more to each other than to the rail, and their eyes are tightly closed. They are gazing, but they gaze inwards.
Where their thoughts may be we cannot tell, but the boat is moving across the water, leaving one land-mass in its wake, moving to a new shore, a new continent.
© John Stevens 2011
Poetry from John Looker 
I love how much can be done with very few words.
You leave us wanting more, or perhaps wandering off into making up our own stories.
I am enjoying this series John
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By: belfastdavid on 28 January, 2011
at 12:26
Thanks very much, David. Wish me luck with it!
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By: John Stevens on 28 January, 2011
at 18:55
I do wish you luck with it. 🙂
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By: belfastdavid on 31 January, 2011
at 15:02
This is lovely – full of atmosphere and a fantastic modern voice which allows us to sink in.
Where their thoughts may(… be)
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By: Narnie on 2 February, 2011
at 22:37
Thanks very much – I’ll keep trying!
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By: John Stevens on 5 February, 2011
at 10:33
Great, very nice image 🙂 I wish I had the right words, but I can see them. In my imaginaton they are dressed in black btw, with the great old houses on the banks of the Bosporus in the back.
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By: Ina on 10 February, 2011
at 17:39
Ah, so you know the region too! I like the extra details you provide. Thank you!
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By: John Stevens on 11 February, 2011
at 15:05
I have never been there, but I watched a documenary about those houses and just imagined the rest. Closest I ever got, was Morocco and Greece, but that’s quite different. Your travels must have been very inspiring 🙂 Lucky you!
btw: Near my house is an alley that was named after my grandfather who lived there, and the name sign also says the alley used to be called Dardanellen (Dardanelles). I have no idea why (yet) !
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By: Ina on 12 February, 2011
at 17:30
What a fascinating association!
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By: John Stevens on 13 February, 2011
at 11:08