By Asli OMUR

For Meli

Your arms are a freedom
Your round mouth
Kisses of St. Tropez
Invade me
Intensify, Undress
My every request
Tabrakas water crashes with rhythm against these
Rocks
that jut out of the Turquoise Sea
Like steel minarets topped with a
Crescent moon and star
From Anatolia

Lilies, Sweet milk and honey coated
Virgins
Breathe and Die
From my Anatolia
Ciftetelli girls gyrating thighs and hips
Imitate the swirling stench of cigarettes
And coffee
That envelopes and follows each
Sensual movement in the golden glow
Of the Spice Bazaar
Golden like the sunset at the Temple of
Apollo
Their breasts like the Twin Castles
Korykos ve Kiz Kalesi
Your green eyes penetrate my thoughts
exploring palms
Wandering navel gazers with sad eyes like mine
They know

From our Anatolia
Where our past and our secrets hide
From Anatolia

From Anatolia
Girls from the High Steps
Whose legs unfurl like the wings of a
Butterfly
And their eyes expose immaculate oceans
From Anatolia
Where purple plums circle the eyes of the Greeks
Who break down the doors of Anatolia

From my Anatolia
Where once your tempting lips
Were like succulent lemons

* * * * *

From Anatolia" won first place:

"New Tampa teens are honored in poetry contest

By Times staff writer

Asli Omur won first place for her poem, From Anatolia, in the New Tampa Regional Library’s third annual Teen 2000 Poetry contest.

The winners were honored Thursday night at a poetry party as part of the library’s Teen Read Week. A total of 18 teens entered the contest."

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 22, 2000

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