if only
the years
with regrets with remorse
could come off
as easily
as a five day growth
with warm water
and a razor
to start fresh
again
Month: September 2019
from Han-shan
A man lives on rose-colored clouds
shunned the usual haunts for a home
every season is equally dead
summer is just like fall
a dark stream always babbles
a towering pine wind sighs
sitting here less than one day
he forgets a whole lifetime of sorrow
translated by Red Pine
Sand of the Washing Stream by Li Ch’ing-chao
Beyond barred windows,
shadows cover the garden,
shadows slide over the curtain
as I play my lute in silence.
Distant mountains stretch the sunset,
breezes bring clouds and rain.
The pear blossoms fade and die,
and I can’t keep them from falling.
translated by Sam Hamill
a daily devotion
a rug is laid
on this bare floor
and Süleyman prays
a daily devotion
in deed
following thought
on what it means to be an essayist by E.B. White
The essayist is a self-liberated man, sustained by the childish belief that everything he thinks about, everything that happens to him, is of general interest. He is a fellow who thoroughly enjoys his work, just as people who take bird walks enjoy theirs. Each new excursion of the essayist, each new “attempt,” differs from the last and takes him into new country. This delights him. Only a person who is congenitally self-centered has the effrontery and the stamina to write essays.
? by Orhan Veli Kanık
Why when I say harbour
Do cranes come to mind
And sails when I say open sea?
Cats when I say March
Workers when I say rights
And why does the old miller
Blindly believe in God?
And why does rain fall slanted
In windy weather?
translated by George Messo
To Live by Orhan Veli Kanık
I
I know, it’s not easy to live,
To fall in love and sing to the one you love,
To stroll in starlight at night,
To warm yourself by the light of day,
To find time like this to meet
On Çamlıca Hill for half a day
–A thousand blues flowing from the Bosphorus–
To forget everything in these leagues of blue.
II
I know, it isn’t easy to live,
But there
A dead man’s bed is still warm,
Someone’s watch still ticks on his wrist.
Living isn’t easy, brothers,
But neither is dying.
It isn’t easy to leave this world.
translated by George Messo
That’s life by Orhan Veli Kanık
This house had a dog, curly
Called Dingdong–who curled up and died.
There was a cat too: Bluey,
She disappeared.
The daughter got married,
The son finished school.
All these bittersweet things
Happened in a year!
They all just happened like that . . .
That’s life.
translated by George Messo
Illusion by Orhan Veli Kanık
I’m saved from an old love,
Now all women are beautiful,
My shirt’s new,
I’ve washed,
I’ve shaved,
It’s peaceful.
Spring is here.
The sun is out.
I’m in the street, people are relaxed,
I’m relaxed, too.
translated by George Messo
Over it all by Orhan Veli Kanık
Birds pass over the cloud,
And rain pours over it.
Birds pass over a train,
And rain pours over it.
Birds pass over night,
And rain pours over it.
Moon comes, wherever birds go . . .
And sun rises over the rain.
translated by George Messo
Leonard Durso 