Turkish Resonances
funny but long after our Istanbul flight,
i could still hear that peculiar
turkish singing, that voice
straining towards an uncertain note
threatening to crack somewhere
at some fragile point,
taking precarious dips suddenly
sullenly into a lowdown sensual
whine, spread thin like dispersed
reflections of homing radar signals
from some strange shore,
resonating notes
left along some steep ridges
coming on coming on almost gone
and petering off . . .
as if at any time at all
this voice redolent of bubbling thick
Espresso and sharp profiles
and deep-set eyes is bound to
change color and range
like overlying remains of odors
of ruined temples and buried dreams.
by Ophelia A. Dimalanta