"TEHRAN MARKET" - sightseeing in Iran

Scents scatter in mosaic square
Bright colours overflow the stands
Carrots elbow aubergines
Rotkohl rest on riotous herbs
Apples vie with golden pears
Grapes accost cucumbers
Rows of fish glisten coolly
Fat red carcasses hang majestically
Olives in glass jars jostle to stare
At baskets heaped with fruit and nut
Flatbreads made in flour dusted shops
Iced pomegranate and baked beetroot
Beckon from tiny streetside stalls
Free spirits pierce their dark garb

Warm smiles light up guarded looks

Open hearts overrule covered heads

To tell the story of Tehran.

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"HANOI" - charming city with shades of old Vietnam

Throw-back city with long shopping streets
Ugly buildings amidst colonial charm
Two million motorbikes constantly hounded
By the habitual honking of passing cars
Pockets of green parks
Activity filled lakes
Tranquil temples
The old museum
Scattered with proletariat art
And frayed silk paintings

Chatting workers on low stools
Hurry through their roadside lunch
Swanky tourists on high chairs
Delight in Viet-French fare

My impressions have faded
But clear is the sound
Of a hundred old ladies
chanting the Hail Mary
in their own dialect
filling the cavernous blue
of St Joseph’s cathedral
drowning out the motorbikes
the sounds of Hanoi
Their city to remember

1105

"RIVER" - oblivious as it swept through a sleepy city down under

The river plodded along with me
like a condescending old queen
I threw at her mental stones
hating her so calm and serene

Something screamed in me
and struggled to be free
that wild conflict that cried
searched and clawed inside

The river swept on unperturbed
ignored my mad disquiet
flowed on by me undisturbed
and mocked my mental riot

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