With Minaret, Bright

One pale minaret rises straight into the noon sky, its narrow column the first thing the eye finds.

The whole town seems to be holding its breath under that light. Your eye follows the tower up, then drifts across the clustered rooftops and low walls. Sun-bleached white rests on dusty earth tones, all of it set under a soft blue sky. The lines of the buildings are so clear and steady. But the sky just breathes, laid in as a soft wash. Light comes straight down, making every edge crisp with short, sharp shadows. A quiet holds over the whole scene, the kind that settles into a town at the slow center of the afternoon.