CASPIAN SKIES (poem). I wrote this poem in January, 2003, while sitting in the rooftop restaurant at the top of the Radisson Hotel, which overlooked the Caspian Sea. It is one of the most beautiful views I can think of, and I love returning there as often as I can. From that point, you can see the gorgeous cerulean blue of the sea, offshore drilling platforms, onshore production platforms, the 'Old City' (Ichiri Sheher) with the Maiden's Tower, caravansarai on the old Silk Road, ancient walled fortress, and the palace of the Shirvan Shah.
When the edge of the sea
merges with the sky –
clouds or haze?
heart or mind?
Life, if I could manage it,
blended between sea and horizon...
Infinity is possible
when I bleed tears like this.
I drink air, breathe the ocean’s froth.
Boundaries only define themselves
when I try to deny their existence.
Philosophy is my favorite haze;
the artifice of self
or at least when thinking I’m inside
that small, little place of belonging.
January 6, 2003
Baku, Azerbaijan