By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes
NEW STATE OF BEING
The first time
i heard the call to prayer
Nicosia’s Venetian walls
melted into mosaic pigments
colors bleeding into anonymity
The first time
i heard the call to prayer
i was released
from a prison of architectural semantics
Carried
above lilting cities of clouds
Tongues of minarets and belfries
pointing above deserts
dissolving echoes
Light’s thermal wave
lifting me peacefully
into a new state of being
Author’s note: Nicosia is referred to as the last divided capital in Europe. I was walking in the South side of the city when I heard the call to prayer echoing over the UN patrolled no man’s land from the occupied Turkish north into the Republic of Cyprus.
Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes was born and raised in San Diego, California. He attended Herbert Hoover High School and went on to study Religion and Theology at the University of San Diego. His book Intimate Geography, published by Ragged Sky Press, won the 2012 San Diego Book Award for Poetry. Ish, as he is known, has also written lyrics for German musicians Andrea Hörkens and Thomas Roderburg (Tender Art).
Latest posts by Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes (see all)
- Word’s Out | Geo-Poetic Spaces - December 14, 2018
- Political Love Affair | Geo-Poetic Spaces - December 7, 2018
- Deer Tracks | Geo-Poetic Spaces - November 30, 2018
