The last Emperor of Constantinople is still wandering Europe, hiding in huts and caves, bedding down beside the motorways, seeking cover, night after night, beside our continent’s frontiers all dressed out these days in barbed wire.
Perhaps he seeks a new city, a new way of being, a way worthy of our race ; or maybe he has simply given up on cities, houses and routine, and nowadays has no destination in his dreams, just movement and fellowship.
Not so long ago, he could be found on a hill-top in Mallorca, drawn to some medieval battlements on a hill (see the film near the top of the home page here, on the right).
More recently, he has appeared in Piedmont in the north of Italy. A website called Margutte, run by a group of people who live in the Piedmontese town of Mondovì, has just uploaded excerpts from my poems about the emperor, in English and Italian, and has linked to the text of the whole series, in its pdf form. An interview with me, in writing, is also included. Here is a link to the emperor’s posting on the site. And for the text of the whole poem-series again, click on the title : Travels of the Last Emperor
What would happen if the Emperor carried on eastward towards Istanbul ? Might he ever walk those streets again ? Might he be seen or heard there ?