when summer came

i have seen these stars before
painted on too brittle walls
that wept when summer came
wept for the passing spring
fearing that this time of ours
would never come again

i have watched this moon before
illuminating the quiet night
while jealous stars circled
the vast heavens in dismay
tracing fading lines of finality
across the back of forever

i have knelt below the sun
beneath the finest domes
of tiles most intricately laid
echoing the oneness of god
while concealing the crudeness
of my unexamined soul

and when the year unhurried still
did finally pass into spring
i opened my heart once more
and danced beneath the trees
chanting to the fertile moon
who forgives my every sin

along the coast of Çeşme, Türkiye