a bird
she says
a bird
to soar
through the air
spreading wings
as free
as the feeling
beating
in my heart
freedom
the cat and seagulls
the cat
watches
seagulls
from
the windows
facing
the sea
and thinks
I imagine
like most
of us
of the freedom
of flight
Love Me by Maria Wine
Love me
but do not come too near
leave room for love
to laugh at its happiness
always let some of my blond hair
be free
translated by Nadia Christensen
A Hundred Days, Free to Go by Su Tung-p’o
A hundred days, free to go, and it’s almost spring;
for the years left, pleasure will be my chief concern.
Out the gate, I do a dance, wind blows my face;
our galloping horses race along as magpies cheer.
I face the wine cup and it’s all a dream,
pick up a poem brush, already inspired.
Why try to fix the blame for trouble past?
Years now I’ve stolen posts I never should have had.
*written on his release from prison
translated by Burton Watson
a definition of freedom
there
by the sea
sun
in his face
his coat
flapping
in the wind
this
his idea
of freedom
he watches
his ship
burn
on the horizon
the emptiness
of the plains
lying
in wait
to cross
the call of the wild
he sits
intently listening
the call of the wild
feral cats
crying for food
attention
envying him
his comfort
from the storms
the cold
the night
and he
wondering
what he’s lost
of his nature
to live
beholding
to no man
just his own wits
himself
and I
understanding
both
For Free by Orhan Veli Kanık
We are living for free;
The air is for free, the clouds are for free.
Hills and dales are for free;
Rain and mud are for free;
The outside of cars,
The entrance to movie houses,
The store windows are for free;
It is not the same as bread and cheese,
But salt water is for free;
Freedom will cost you your life,
But slavery is for free;
We are living for free,
For free.
translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat
The Frog by Francis Ponge
When rain like metal tips bounces off the sodden pastures, an amphibious dwarf, an Ophelia with empty sleeves, barely as large as a fist, rises at times from around the poet’s feet, and then hurtles herself into the nearest pool.
Let this nervous one flee. How beautiful her legs are. A glove impermeable to water envelops her body. Barely flesh at all, her long muscles in their elegance are neither animal nor fish. In order to escape from my fingers, the virtue of fluid allies in her with the battle of the life force. She puffs, widely goitered. . .And this heart that beats so strongly, the wrinkly eyelids, the old woman’s mouth, move me to set her free.
translated by Robert Bly
from Singing Out of Key by Hafiz
Almost nowhere now do they appreciate the art of poetry and spiritual talk.
Hafiz says, Don’t worry, to somewhere else that is rich in freedom we will go.
translated by Thomas Rain Crowe
My Shadow by Orhan Veli Kanik
I am through
Dragging it
All these years
At the tip of my feet.
About time
We live a little,
My shadow
At someplace,
I
Someplace else.
translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat
Leonard Durso 