Soapbox

Towers of Yadz

the prompt in Creative writing that day was "The Towers of Yadz". I never even bothered to find out what they are, but the name sounded so romantic that I wrote this.

As the evening shadows draw their lines
Of closure on the day
And children’s voices echo
As they turn their homeward way,
From my solitary window
I turn my heart away
And dream of the towers of Yadz.

Against the sunset layers
Of gleaming gold, descending
Like the fortune of the heavens
The sky is richly spending,
The clock tower stands in solemn silhouette
As if pretending
To the grandeur of the towers of Yadz.

I close my eyes and once again
Smell cardamom and cloves,
As sunset paints the marketplace
In apricot and rose
The final call to prayer
Brings another day to close
Beneath the towers of Yadz.

The shops are empty, bleating flocks
Are herded from the street
Between the walls of ochre stone
Still radiant with heat.
In a swirl of vermillion shawls,
A woman runs to meet
Her love among the towers of Yadz.

The cricket’s vesper call begins
Beside the garden stair,
The first few stars within the cobalt sky
Are twinkling rare
Wrapped in robes of cinnabar
I still can see him there,
Waiting beneath the towers of Yadz.

T. Meisky