there’s just no
getting away
from it
that hole
you left
in my heart
your words
didn’t quite catch
your words
that night
as you woke me
from my slumber
on the couch
the record still turning
on the turntable
the dog looking up
as I struggled
to my feet
my mind a haze
your words lost
like water
slipping through my fingers
like you
fading gradually
into the night
those words
still nagging
my memory
decades later
ten thousand miles
away
the shadow of her arms: for Lucy
the aroma
of her skin
the scent of heaven
and earth
mixed with the coming rain
to lie
against skin so smooth
and forget the dust
of this old world
to lose oneself
in the shadow
her arms cast
as they engulf
this weary exile
who has finally
come home
to ride the wind: for Lucy
her eyebrows white
like a season of snow
melting in her eyes
when she smiles
her dimples tell
of hearing the wind
come over the mountains
she is so soft
like a cloud
floating on high
oh to drink
her melted snow
as she closes her eyes
and we ride the wind
carrying us far
on her cloud
over the mountains
that ascend so tall
separating us
now
Birds And Clouds by Melih Cevdet Anday
I found it in the cellar of a caravanserai
Under a copper lamp,
An ancient handwritten manuscript of the Isagoge,
Perhaps dating from the Seljuk Empire,
Wine stains on every page.
I don’t know whether it was the author or a reader,
But right at the end, in a secret place,
He added these frightentng words:
The sky is our brain’s membrane,
Birds and clouds wander around in it.
A Winter Night by Oktay Rıfat
A winter night
Came to my room
And sat crosslegged on the sofa
Drank my coffee
Looked at the fire in the stove
Then went as it came.
translatged by Ruth Christie & Richard McKane
The Law-Court by Oktay Rıfat
For their stony fields and pastures
They are crammed into the law-court
Crumbs of bread and tobacco in their pockets
In their wallets lists of witnesses
Thumbprint signatures proof of transactions
Their women and donkeys
Wait in the market-place
The courtroom is dingy it stinks of dung
But on the judge’s robe
The ribbons shine with propriety
translated by Ruth Christie & Richard McKane
Bar by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar
A Rose
offers itself
a coral wine glass
in
the bars
of time
***sorry but could not find the name of the translator
untitled poem by Ahmet Haşim
A river of fire
between your soul and mine
mine unburdened itself
of this love’s impossible wound
As this glitter reflected on her
I ran away from that look, that lip
I looked at her silently, from far,
as this river reflected on her . . .
translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat
Folk Songs by Oktay Rıfat
He loved the homesick songs of exile most
Played in ramshackle buses
On the tarmac road through mountain passes
translated by Ruth Christie & Richard McKane
