Istanbul
Patrick Pfister
Three Kurds scrape paint off
the Iranian Consulate lobby
impregnating the air
with a fine green dust.
I cough and choke but Mustafa
smiles and says, “She loves me.”
Patience: the white silk noose
worn like a scarf
round a Sufi’s neck.
My heart is set
on a transit visa while his
awaits
a fax from
a sweetheart as precious
as a “golden gazelle.”
At night we watch seagulls
swoop gleaming minarets
like the feathered souls
of Byzantine saints.
Hours rush to become days
in this city of slow centuries
but Mustafa’s resolve endures.
“She loves me,” he sings.
Meanwhile the Kurds keep
chip- chipping paint
until a red stamp thumps
my visa petition: “Rejected.”
The next day
Mustafa reads his fax, clutches
his throat and whispers:
“She loves me not.
Patrick
Pfister is the author of two books of
travel literature: Pilgrimage: Tales from
the Open Road and Over Sand &
Sea. His work has been selected for
several Travelers’ Tales
anthologies, including Best Travel
Writing 2007. His poetry has
appeared in numerous literary magazines such as