Elegy from the East to the West: A Night in Constantinople

Night cloaks my tired eyes
My soul at last laid bare
Ocean winds warm starry skies
A voice fade away in prayer

“Life, o life,” words I whisper slow
Through the street of moon-lit shadow
“Life, o love, have you doomed me so?”
Constantinople lay covered in woe

Writhing path through the city ring
Across all that was, and never will
Steeped in tears, o Sultan, my king
Ne’er again shall you my sorrow still

For in nights eye, I gaze only west
A golden shine, a deep blue pleasure
In smile and memory my soul find rest
Breath – once fated – now sealed in myrrh

A lumière jewel fell to desert floor
shattering precious crystal of Ruh
Bound by law, sacred oath I swore
And so did I, shatter with you

“Life, o love” I beg once more
Allah or God, or whoever might hear
My life, once His, now lost with your
“O love, Aşkim, why did I fall near?”

O Sultan, my king, wait for me
Eastward drawn, holy duty bound
Yet a yearning echo ‘cross sea
Westward longing, my heart once found

Without you, my love, o cruelty of life
My heart was born to King of Kings
O Sultan, I beg, will you end my strife
And show me again for who my soul sings

“Life, o life” I whisper one last time
As golden shimmer paint city wall
Morning prayers from blue spires chime
“Allah, give me strength to fill my call”