East West Meet In Clash Of Armies Trade Poem by Terence George Craddock

in youth I traveled West
in maturity I traveled East
youth travels fast swift
when eager at bit is best

I traveled far
I traveled far fast far
yet bore no souvenir scar
woke not knowing where we are?

web romantic fables people told me East is East
contrast West is West never the two will meet
yes East is East West is West but both do meet
civilizations collided in Istanbul merging best...

merged from Byzantine
Roman empire continuum
Ottoman Empire Turkish
meet on Bosphorus legendary

emperor named Strait of Constantinople
tell me a tale embedded in time history
what is Bosphorus strategic importance
dating back millenia past curtain mist time?

In BC the 5th century
Greek city state Athens
dependent on grain imports
must maintain critical

alliances with far cities
which controlled the straits
in foreign Scythia such as
Magarian colony Byzantium

Persian King Darius I, the Great
crossed through the Bosphorus
Danube River marched towards
in an attempt to subdue enemies

Scythian horsemen roamed across
the north of the Black Sea a threat
Persian King Darius I, has his army
construct across barrier Bosphorus

an enormous bridge his army crossed
made by connecting Achaemenis boats
fact strategically this bridge connected
the farthest geographic tip of Asia to

Europe encompassing at least
1000 meters of open water traversed
a similar boat bridge is constructed
on Hellespont strait future Dardanelles

in a future invasion legendary
by Persian King Xerxes I, history
records his invasion of Greece
Marathon run invasion war legends

'Stenon' Byzantines called the Bosphorus armies
West East will stand fall determine fate of empires
spear cast upon strategic significance of this strait
in AD 330 Roman Emperor Constantine the great

decrees a new Roman capital Constantinople
new capital Eastern Roman Empire was Rome
continental boundary between Europe and Asia
Bosporus connects Black Sea and Sea of Marmara

through Dardanelles the Aegean Mediterranean Seas
Bosphorus winding historical waterway connects
east continent Asia with Europe on western banks
ancient modern city Istanbul strides both continents

ask the Nobel Laureate for Literature
Orhan Pamuk for his autograph
while you can for Caesar is centuries
dead Byzantine Empire long vanquished

expelled in blood from ancient Anatolia
but like wine press birth born from grapes
over time with nurturing care fermented
at least Orhan Pamuk has at last discerned

'in the quest for the melancholic soul
of his native city... discovered new symbols
for the clash and interlacing of cultures'

in youth I traveled West in maturity I traveled East
youth travels fast swift when eager at bit is best


Copyright © Terence George Craddock