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Bursa Ipek

Joan Leotta

Bursa Ipek

All that remains
of the road of silken glory
is a quadrangular arcade
bearing a bronze placard
“Silk Market” in Turkish and English.
We enter on the second level and are
amazed by the array of shop windows
full of bright silks.
Over the rail of the arcade passage
we look down onto a courtyard
canopied with trees,
that populate the ground level
revealing here and there
a tangle of several coffee shops.
Small round tables with
brightly colored clothes and cups
host shoppers who sit, rest, and talk after shopping.

We plunge into the crowded shops
eyeing displays
and samples.
As we wait our turn
for a salesgirl’s attention, we
watch gaggles of
young Muslim girls
pull on scarves
at the mirrors and marvel at the transformations made
with each flashing bit of silk.
The more modest glide
in and out of dressing rooms
so as not to reveal their hair to another shopper.
I smile at a brown-eyed beauty
who has donned a blue shimmer scarf–
“That turquoise silk is just right for
you, it frames your face
with the beauty of both sea and sky.”

The salesgirl translates.
The girl smiles.
Her friends giggle loudly.
As we leave with our own purchases in hand,
we turn and see her purchasing that very scarf.
She looks up and shyly waves at us.

***

 

The Cat Scarf

 

Cats of Istanbul are,

appreciated, pampered.

Residents set out bowls of food and

these well-fed cats purr welcome to all.

We found a scarf

replete with feline images.

Meowed joys draped her shoulders

Their shapes soft

The scarf the softness of

Istanbul’s smiling cats,

Their fur as soft

as a sultan’s silk cushions

where once they rested

after a hard day of mousing

in Topkapi palace.

We could not bring home a cat

so we purchased the cat

scarves in their stead.

Joan Leotta

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About Joan Leotta

Joan Leotta has been playing with words since childhood. She has won awards in USA and abroad for writing and performing. She's a journalist, novelist, poet and playwright. Her four novels from Desert Breeze publishing, The Legacy of Honor series feature strong Italian-American women during time of war. Joan's picture books from Theaqllc, Whoosh!, Summer in a Bowl, and Rosa and the Red Apron celebrate food and family. Her book of short stories, Simply a Smile is available from Rebecca Vickery Press. All can be found on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=joan+leotta+books.Her poetry and essays have appeared in Gnarled Oak, Red Wolf, A Quiet Courage, the A-3 Review, Hobart Literary Review, Silver Birch, Postcard Poems and Proseamong others. You can find her at www.joanleotta.wordpress.com and Joan Leotta, Author and Story Performer on Facebook. Her first poetry chapbook, Languid Lusciousness with Lemon, will be out in January 2017 from Finishing Line Press.

Filed Under: Poetry Tagged With: Turkey

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