Presenting – the latest in Reputation – Reaching Cennet: An Ode to Istanbul
Reaching Cennet: An Ode to Istanbul is an imitation of Ottoman Turkish poetry. The Turkish word – Cennet – means heaven or Elysium.
If you have visited Istanbul, the Queen of Cities, comment down below!
Never before on Earth, has such a heaven been made, O regal city of Istanbul!
What I would not give, What I would not sacrifice, for just one of thy holy stones,
To spend but one day, flowing, wandering in your beloved visage,
Floating among your sleek minarets, your beautiful mosques, and your giving heart, large,
I, weary traveller, have been searching, like the flowing, breathing Mediterranean to preserve thy life force, incessantly, for many a forlorn night,
For a beauty that could yet compare, for hospitality that could rival, yet none have besmirched thy light,
For even the falling, drowning tea leaves, seem to honour in thy name; yet I am standing still, waiting to be led into cennet,
For I have lamented desperately searching for my sentient origin, and now, my search itself has become my origin, with no remnants,
I have spent my days eternally searching for the one to guide me, alone in the company of longing, to spare me from the world’s thorns,
Laughing Roses have pricked me, and Fervent Nightingales wept for me; but now, like the Swaying Cypress, pointed flame reincarnate, incandescence is born,
My Eternal Lord and Saviour has come to grant the seventh heaven, like the reed pen illuminating the plains of love and life onto this Earth,
To save me from the inconstant, and in Istanbul, the seat of Sultans and Caliphates, shall I rejoice in my ceaseless mirth,
But now, only one last selfish request of mine remains, before I leave these worldly tethers,
I am Wounded, and Woe is Me, for this harsh Rosegarden world, tries, erodes, and weathers,
I am not the first, and I fear I will certainly not be the last, to be afflicted by this love, peerless and profound,
I pray, nay, I plead; and shall sacrifice all of Persia, to see Thy sign in doves from Thy world above, steadfastly homebound.
ANVI TUTEJA
Thoughts Caught 