Fairy Chimneys
Cappadocia, Turkey
by John Lowe
By rights they should not be,
basalt buds on stems of stone.
Why are acrobatic boulders “fairy”?
— Theirs is the domain of wonder,
with mustard seed and whales.
Holes of solidity bored up into air
make javelins to puncture normality
and tip us from our everyday divan.
PHOTO: Triple fairy chimney (Cappadocia, Turkey) by Niels Elgaard Larsen (2009), used by permission.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Cappadocia is a historical region in Turkey that includes a variety of natural wonders, including fairy chimneys, also known as hoodoos. A hoodoo is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Hoodoos typically consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements. They generally form within sedimentary rock and volcanic rock formations and are mainly found in the desert in dry, hot areas. Hoodoos range in size from the height of an average human to higher than a 10-story building.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John Lowe has published poetry in various Australian magazines and anthologies, and jointly with his wife Virginia Lowe in the poetry collection Lines Between. He will release a book later in the year (Houndstooth, Ginninderra Press), Covid allowing.
Silver Birch Press 
John, wonderful poem and glad to know about the “fairy chimneys” and “hoodoos.”