In this week’s poem, “Along the Bosporus,” Marita O’Neill relates being a stranger along the Turkish river and witnessing a simple but transcendent act of community and love. I love how fully this poem immerses us in the scents, sights and ardors of the scene, and how like an offering of love this poem is itself. 

O’Neill lives in Portland with her 10-pound dog, Sweetpea. She received her MFA in Poetry from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her poems have appeared in The Cafe Review, Smoky Blue, Deluge Press, and LEON Literary Review. Her book “Wild Nest, No Prison” launched with Deerbrook Editions in the spring of 2025.

Along the Bosporus

I see the men before they see me.
They’re in a wide huddle, arguing it seems
about something inside the circle.

Their fishing lines are thrown haphazardly
in piles beside them. I only know a few words
of Turkish, only enough to say, evet evet—yes, yes

when a man, seeing me watching, waves me
into the circle. He smells of cigarettes,
fish, and sandalwood cologne. He’s explaining

about the sea bird, I see now, tangled badly
in fishing line. I’m close enough to see
her chest beat quickly, see her yellow eyes

follow the men though her head is still.
Three men kneel. Their mismatched suits,
worn dress shoes, and prayer caps are damp

from sweat and sea mist. One elderly man’s
in charge, giving directions while the other two
hold the bird still, palms against her chest.

They make a wide O around the bird and create
a space that allows for something solemn, holy,
bigger. As they unravel the lines, one man guides

the hands of another–weaving over and under
her wings and body. The men grow silent
as the fishing line comes free of her body

and she jolts into the winds. The men clap, cry out,
Allahhalla! Mashallah! The men hug, shake hands.
A man points, and we see the seagull in the distance,

a white against the dark cedars. Yes, yes, I say,
as the bird circles and circles in a gesture,
reminding us we are part of, we are wholly of.

— Marita O’Neill

---

Megan Grumbling is a poet and writer who lives in Portland. DEEP WATER: Maine Poems is produced in collaboration with the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance. “Along the Bosporus” ©2025 by Marita O’Neill, appears by permission of the author.