PRAGUE SYMPHONY by Terrence Sykes

PRAGUE SYMPHONY
by Terrence Sykes

Prelude

beech forests
poplar meadows
chestnut groves
dusty roads slice fallowed fields
birch embroidering streams
through fog & mist
amongst the stars
almond & apricot lanterns
papier-mâché poppy cosmos
cling upon & amongst
planets & moons
beyond

below
descent & ascent
confined by rail slats
lullabied & cradled
alone along
the Elbe
river valley
dirt to stone to asphalt
steel sparks smoke
window bound
on the overnight
Dresden-Prague train

Adagio

turmeric & ginger
copper early dusk
along the Vltava

faded rose moon
reluctantly tendrils across
ashened stars

autumn cicada
murmur & chant
cluttered linden grove

ancient medlar
merely staging
poetic lament

amongst branches
longing nightingale
I remember sky

Scherzo

prayed then ushered
out of the church
by that impatient priest
he must have hungered
not for the bread of life
but hearty manna
finding refuge in a small café

to ease my thirst & famish
mystery on every street
shadows beckoned me
lost upon these streets
just another wayward soul
darkness & snow descend
as I cross the Vltava

Coda

up in the old hotel
an uncharted country
nightingale sings amongst the garden

Vltava waters flow
in silent repose
night photographer waits

stagnant crepuscular air
drags that indigo sky
through naked branches

upon staved river bank
following shadowed sun
meandering to awaiting sea

PHOTO: Vltava River, Czech Republic, by O’Donnell on Pixabay, used by permission. Prague Castle is visible in the background of the photo.

NOTE: The Vltava is the longest river within the Czech Republic, running southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice and Prague, and finally merging with the Elbe at Mělník. It is commonly referred to as the “Czech national river.” Prague  is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, the 13th largest city in the European Union and the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated on the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 2.7 million. The city has a temperate oceanic climate, with relatively warm summers and chilly winters.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Conception … anticipation of arrival to Prague sparked my imagination as I took the train between Dresden & Prague…Walking the streets and upon the banks of the Vltava is a trance-like pilgrimage.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Although Terrence Sykes is a far better gardener-forager-cook . . . his poetry-photography-flash fiction have been published in Bangladesh, Canada, Ireland, India,  Mauritius, Pakistan, Scotland, Spain, and the USA . . . he was born and raised in the rural coal mining area of Virginia and this  isolation brings the theme of remembrance to his creations — whether real or imagined.