Turkish Bath

Your face.
Your face etched in my mind
And I don't know why.
A hunger.
A hunger, thirst, an angst.
Never caught your name
It is now my regret.

You faced me with a smile
Your face sits among the haze in my heart
With eyes I now can't recall--
Inside the sunset-lit bar, among the steamy breeze;
Amidst the mist of half-smoke cigars
With delicate arches framing those suns,
dark suns inside this Turkish bath.

And your gaze lingered, and so did my heartbeat.
You smiled, a familiar smile; like that when one sees the sunrise
In the beach holding a beautiful woman.
Like the one Helen used, to make men go to war.
A crescent moon below your dark suns, etched on your olive skin
lit dimly by your charm
in this Turkish bath.

A fire in my chest as I walked past--
A musk feeling of regret.
A heavy scent of Turkish perfume from your hair--
A sinking feeling of "never again".