Do you remember when the Greeks were at Smyrna? cries one. Do you remember Turk boots on Christian necks? wails the other. But the forms around the table cannot hear. A braceleted hand pours Frankish whiskey, rough thumbs unwrap glinting forks. No one thinks of a time when Alexander reached the edge of the world, or the year a sultan knocked on the gates at Vienna. Worn knives come down, and old ideas think themselves martyrs as they are diced, smothered, and well-forgotten.
YECK 10