The green peach of heaven thrives in the dew
the red apricot of the sun flourishes by the clouds
the lotus that rises from a river in fall
doesn’t blame the East Wind for not blooming sooner
translated by Red Pine
poetry
Spending the Night at Yunmen Temple Pavilion by Sun T’I
At Incense Pavilion below East Peak
the flowers in the mist were from another world
I held up a lantern on a deep mountain night
and pulled back the curtain on a lakeland fall
the swans stayed behind on the walls
the Dipper and the Ox spent the night in the window
the road to Heaven seemed so close again
I dreamed I was traveling with clouds
translated by Red Pine
The Station by Melih Cevdet Anday
An unknown evening hour
Of a station with an age-old platform, sadness
By my side, I knew no direction.
I had left you up there, in the sky
Dark were the trees and the road
Dark were your white clothes.
The night, that treasure, foreign stone
Your window was above the trees
No voice or iron can save me now.
Here I am in the hours
The hours are nowhere, no
Not in this direction, not in that.
I had left you up there, in the sky.
translated by Şehnaz Tahir-Gürçağlar
Half The Joy by Melih Cevdet Anday
Remember when birds made rain
And rain hit the sun
I came to you
Half the joy in my mouth
Mornings grew to lilies
Plains rode horses
When the sea streamed to its tower
In my pockets stars from the night before
With bees and honey in my blood
My heart turned into a palm, remember
Then it was a fountain too
In the month of sad returns
I came to you.
translated by Şehnaz Tahir-Gürçağlar
The Tulip by Melih Cevdet Anday
I undressed you with my own hands, like the spring
Laying the petals open
Your haste was all seeds like a pomegranate.
O the singing forest of sighs
The heart of kisses and glances
Questions in its fresh silence.
The roof of your desire floated in the sky
It was humming yellow butterflies
When every inch of you burst out.
I tied you down with my teeth
Like a greedy silkworm
Your redness was a crescent
Two petals of a tulip on the sheets.
translated by Şehnaz Tahir-Gürçağlar
Chuchou’s West Stream by Wei Ying-wu
I love unnoticed plants that grow beside a stream
orioles singing overhead somewhere in a tree
at dusk the current quickens fed by springtime rain
I pull myself across an unmanned country ferry
translated by Red Pine
Poetic Economics by Erdal Alova
June is the month I feel the coldest
Perhaps because I was born in June
I fell in love at age four
At thirteen I wrote poems
I was a boarder deeply in love
In my eyes violet flowers
I memorized all the works of the night
I was a Phoenix of poetry
I rose from my ashes whenever consumed
I poisoned my roses and cried over them
For love I crossed a thousand mountains
I was Narcissus
From my reflection in the marigold I almost died
It was the year of solitude AD
I drowned between the land and sea
translated by Suat Karantay
Lyrics (4) by Sina Akyol
Stay here. In the noon courtyard.
Settle down at the simple language of time.
Take an interest in horizon-watching.
Experiment with the blue, the white, and the day.
Appreciate the oleander! Surprise me
by murmuring “It’s poison is the ointment
I apply to my skin.”
Try to translate
those feverish insects of August
and their sweaty songs into Turkish.
Learn the rather rich
styles of
washing the courtyard, pruning the vine,
walking barefoot.
Stay here. With the enduring time.
In the noon courtyard.
Absolve from your body. Strip
until you are your own self.
Pour refreshing water over your head.
Sleep soundly.
translated by Suat Karantay
Letter Home by Li Shang-yin
You ask when I’ll be back–
I wish I knew!
night rain on Pa Mountain
overflows the autumn ponds
when will we trim the candle wick
under our own west window?
I’ll be telling you this story
night rain will be falling.
translated by David Young
Quantitative by Orhan Veli Kanık
I love beautiful women,
I also love working women;
But I love beautiful working women
More.
translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat
Leonard Durso 