Ode to  Sultana Jilliana   


Once upon a Turkish time in Brighton
I had a language student called Jilliana.

Brighton is full of characters
And
Literary characters as in
Brighton Rock
Or
Pride and Prejudice.

Sometimes silly
Sometimes sunny
Sometimes sinful
Sometimes dark
Sultana is sometimes all of these

Brighton
Is a sophisticated sanctuary
Where everyone is welcome
And anything goes

Jilliana Sultana
Wonder and Wander Woman
Lives In Park Crescent
Like Lewis Carrol's crazy cat lady sister Henrietta
In our eccentric creative city

This evening it is Sultana's 73rd birthday
We her guests celebrate
In her Wonderland with her beloved cat Neko

Sultana told me she was a dealer
In Ephemera and Ottomania

Today she is a Sultana
Who collects and deals in every
Human landscape and emotion
In all sorts of beautiful and exotic lives
Enhancing little items many might not appreciate

Sultana seems to live in many dimensions
Her inner soul has a rich linguistic existence and Jewish heritage

From Liverpool initially
Cosmopolitan English
To Italian
To French
To Greek
To Turkish
To Spanish and Ladino
To Portuguese
And to much more
More is More

Like a bee notices every flower
Sultana notices every beautiful item

Everyone she comes across
She can make friends with quickly
And as a good friend will tell them
The hard truth if that is needed
Or charms and compliments them
When they deserve

She is like a magpie
She collects all sorts of things
Not only things that are intricate and valuable
But also plain and simple

And all these Sultana transforms
Into something special
Like herself

Ode to Jilliana
Is like an Ode to Joy
Full of colour and mystery

Jilliana is not a dealer of Ephemera
But eternal goods like friendship
Love and beauty

Mustafa Mersinoglu
Brighton 30.12.17