Cold night rain rustles the bamboo,
And crickets tell of autumn near my bed.
How can I hold the fleeting years at bay?
I cannot keep my hair from turning white.
translated by Sung-Il Lee
The Pear-Blossom Pavilion by Shin Cham
Thirty springs have passed since I first came here;
Visiting the site of my past pleasure only grieves my heart.
In the yard, the pear tree still blossoms,
But those who sang and danced are gone.
translated by Sung-Il Lee
For something to do by Orhan Veli Kanık
All the beautiful women thought
Every love poem I wrote
I wrote for them.
But I always felt bad
Knowing I wrote them
Just for something to do.
translated by George Messo
Dream by Orhan Veli Kanık
I saw my mother dead in a dream.
I woke up crying.
It reminded me of one holiday morning
Staring at the balloon I’d lost to the sky,
Crying.
translated by George Messo
“Truth never penetrates an unwilling mind”
from Douglas Moore’s Art of Quotation
“Truth never penetrates an unwilling mind”
Jorge Luis Borges, Argentinian, writer
Something like whiskey by Orhan Veli Kanık
There’s something like whiskey in the air
Makes you feel down, down . . .
If you burn with longing, missing her
When your girl is somewhere else
And you’re here
It makes you feel rough, rough . . .
There’s something like whiskey in the air
It makes a man drunk, drunk.
translated by George Messo
I gather old things by Orhan Veli Kanık
I gather old things,
Gather and make them into stars.
If music is the manna of love,
I just love music.
I write poems.
I write poems and gather old things,
Swapping old things for music.
I wish I were a fish in a bottle of gin.
translated by George Messo
