Out of Chaos

by Nina Romano

From the agora crush,
I step into a wheel of alleyways
centered by a brazier
roasting couscous.
A hub of men in flowing gowns
scoop with bent fingers
from the communal pot,
licking mustaches clean
with pink tongues.

Barefoot I enter a mosque
in a cloche of veiled women
with hennaed feet & palms.
Later I watch men smoke
a water pipe
& sip sweetened tea
from steaming glasses.
I buy blue & pearl beads
knotted of silk threads
from a vendor closing his stall.

A carillon chime
bestirs my mind
to skyfall in peaching spring<br