CASPIAN DESCENT

The Alborz mountains steadily ebb.

Beneath them lies the leafy plain,

Quilted with collaged farms,

And hamlets cleaving to cliffs.

From the peaks a winding road

Edges down through deftly
cut clefts -

Incisions of men and mechanics

Skirting the scree of nature’s rifts.

Then the descent offers

Carnivals of assorted sceneries.

Grey gravel gives way to mossy moors.

Soon conifers conquer with emerald needles.

Beyond the pines all is jumbled –

Deciduous mantles of scarlet and yellow

Arranged by chance in patterns -

Erratic but explicit in grandeur.

As the land levels out on to the plain,

Green and gold meadows nestle

Beside quaint homes and waving palms.

Then the land kisses the water.

The glittering blue-grey sea

Caresses its slim sandy strand.

High-rise lodgings jostle for prestige,

Just as it was in the time of the king.