Dance, when you’re broken open.
Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you’re perfectly free.

translated by Coleman Barks with John Moyne

Snow closed the road
you weren’t there
kneeling and facing you
I gazed at your face
with my eyes closed.

Ships won’t sail, planes won’t fly
you weren’t there
across from you I was leaning on the wall
I spoke and spoke and spoke
without opening my mouth.

You weren’t there
I touched you with my hands
my hands were on your face.

translated by Talat S. Halman

a sip today of
Turkish coffee no sugar
kick the brain alive

Only great poems can capture the hearts of those who don’t read;
So poets, sing! Let the God-of-Oceans fill your mouths with pearls.

O Haliz, if you are seeking the pearl of union, do this:
From tears, make yourself an ocean. . .and then dive!

translated by Thomas Rain Crowe

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