Forest Fires
The forests are burning in Turkey again
I walked by the harbour and saw a great haze of smoke emerging from across the Aegean
Then I went to a Chinese restaurant in the new town
Although no one looked Chinese there at all
Above the table hangs a quote by Aristotle:
"There is only one way
To avoid criticism:
Do nothing,
Say nothing,
And be nothing"
I can't say I've upheld these principles
Besides, nothingness is a relative thing
Here it amounts to how much I pay
When I came back to the port
The water was nothing but a lingering shadow
The smoke an invisible cloud
I don't know anyone else here, roaming the night
Most people are nice because they expect something from you
To those that don't you are a ghost
Nothing sleeps, but the lingering shell of an awareness
Frozen in the habitude of commerce and cheap food
And nothing stands to unfreeze it
Not fires of days forgotten
Or the smoke sailing upward on the horizon
And:
Posted Jun 23, 2022, 9:50 PM UTC
Very well done. The smoky, fiery imagery is consistent throughout the poem and the idea of this ash cloud floating over the Aegean sea is rather beautiful. As a piece of blank verse, it works quite well. If I had a minor criticism, I'd say that the "Chinese restaurant" section doesn't necessarily contribute too much - I understand that, from a stream-of-consciousness perspective it might make sense, but it doesn't really vibe with the poignant imagery at the beginning and end of the poem, in my opinion.
Good work!