In a Winter Deeply

Snowing hard, the flakes wink my eyes
as they fall on Istanbul: a white, muddied
light fare that makes us sneeze
into the city's powdery and cold air.

I stop to wonderingly stare
at people rushing to catch last minute
wares and their cloudy breath in stasis,
misting the front of pink-red faces.

Blinking at the sugared glare,
I think the humming streets stand
like a Christmas postcard sent
with wishes that summer was here.

I can hear church bells peal in prayer
against the song of the muezzin
calling from his snow globe
to Istanbul's Taksim Square.

This is the true religion that unites
I decide, the religion of snow,
and sunlight and trams cutting tracks
like a thundering plough.

Read more from Turkish Vistas >>