Nostalgia for a Trip to Turkey

Nostalgia for a Trip to Turkey

Susan Francino

I miss your cheap-as-dirt dried chickpeas—
even the funny candy-coated ones,
strange to me as your words—
some of which I could get for free
for the high price of being American.
And I miss the icons,
which saw me seeing them,
even when you struck their eyes out.
And I miss you.
But you are dying,
you are under siege.
So are we all, Little Asia.
We are all icons
that have struck out our own eyes.
But just as you
with every stone
recall the saints who lived there,
not because you know,
but because they are,
just as no amount of cursing
can un-bless your soil
which was watered with martyrs’ blood,
just as you are a prophecy
of what was lost
and what shall be,
so are we all.

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Susan Francino
Poet & MFA

Susan’s poetry has recently been published or is forthcoming in The American Journal of Poetry and St. Katherine Review. She also holds a BA in Latin from Hillsdale College and is currently earning an MA in Early Christian Studies from Notre Dame.

Photography by Ekrulila