there was the sea
the plantive cry of seagulls
you stood at the edge
with a look I could not read
waves broke, the sun did not shine

Are you looking for me? I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
You will not find me in stupas, not in Indian shrine rooms, nor in synagogues, nor in cathedrals:
not in masses, nor kirtans, not in legs winding around your own neck, nor in eating nothing but vegetables.
When you really look for me, you will see me instantly–
you will find me in the tiniest house
Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath.

translated by Robert Bly

I am the poet of beautiful days

I get my inspiration from happiness

I talk to the girls about their dowries

About amnesty to the prisoners

I give good news to children

To children whose fathers are in the front lines

But it is so hard

So hard to tell lies

(Yalan by Melih Cevdet Anday, translated by Rukiye Uçar)

As certain as color
Passes from the petal,
Irrevocable as flesh,
The gazing eye falls through the world.

translated by Kenneth Rexroth

night
falls
regardless of how
we think
about it

just when you thought
you had it all
figured out
everything changes
life
you say
can’t be anything
else

I don’t love her anymore
So
Why should I walk
Nights
By the tavern
Where ı drank
Every night
Thinking of her?

translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat

You cannot do this to them, these are my people;
I am not speaking of poetry, I am not speaking of art.
you cannot do this to them, these are my people.
you cannot hack away the horizon in front of their eyes.

the tomb, articulate, will record your doing;
I will record it also, this is not art.
this is a kind of science, a kind of hobby,
a kind of personal vice like coin collecting.

it has something to do with horses
and signet rings and school trophies;
it has something to do with the pride of the lions;
it has something to do with good food and music,
and something to do with power and dancing.
you cannot do this to them, these are my people.

I live my life in growing orbits
which move out over the things of the world.
Perhaps I can never achieve the last,
but that will be my attempt.

I am circling around God, around the ancient town,
and I have been circling for a thousand years,
and I still don’t know if I am a falcon, or a storm,
or a great song.

translated by Robert Bly