Suddenly by Nazim Hikmet

Suddenly something snaps in me and catches in my throat,
suddenly, in the middle of work, I jump up,
suddenly, in a hotel, in the hall, standing up, I fall into a dream,
suddenly, on the sidewalk, a branch whacks me in the forehead,
suddenly a wolf howls at the moon, miserable, enraged, starved,
suddenly stars hang from a swing in a garden,
suddenly I see myself in the grave,
suddenly my head is a sunny haze,
suddenly I cling to the day I started out as if it wouldn’t end,
and every time you float up to the surface. . .

translated by Randy Blasing & Mutlu Konuk

One thought on “Suddenly by Nazim Hikmet

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.