a thread
to hang by
so fragile
is love
love
your eyes
wherever
I turn
your eyes
among flowers
here
among flowers
I sing
your name
Did I Fall in Love? by Orhan Veli Kanık
Was I going to have such thoughts too
And spend sleepless nights
And go through quiet spells?
And never miss
My favoriye salad?
Were things going to come to this?
translated by Talat S. Halman
for Charlie & Joe on Father’s Day
both opposite
in manner
yet the same
in devotion
to that woman
who dominated
all our lives
the lesson learned
there’s more than one way
to love
a Turkish proverb
Before you love,
learn to run through the snow
leaving no footprints.
once in my bookstore
once
in my bookstore
a woman approached books
as if they were holy scripture
tenderly turning pages
letting the poetry
wash over her
I could love
a woman like that
in whose hands
a heart
would be cherished
and safe
on love
how long
can you hold
the wind
in your hands
what lies in a heart
it’s not the grand gesture
the great sacrifice
that proves what lies
in a heart
but the accumulation
of the small things
that go unnoticed
during the daylight
the evening
of our lives
On The Matter Of Romeo And Juliet by Nazim Hikmet
It’s no crime to be Romeo or Juliet;
it’s not a crime even to die for love.
What counts is whether you can be a Romeo or Juliet–
I mean, it’s all a question of your heart.
For instance, fighting at the barricades
or going off to explore the North Pole
or testing a new serum in your veins–
would it be a crime to die?
It’s no crime to be Romeo or Juliet;
it’s not a crime even to die for love.
You fall head over heels in love with the world,
but it doesn’t know you’re alive.
You don’t want to leave the world,
but it will leave you–
I mean, just because you love apples,
do apples have to love you back?
I mean, if Juliet stopped loving Romeo
–or if she’d never loved him–
would he be any less a Romeo?
It’s no crime to be Romeo or Juliet;
it’s not a crime even to die for love.
translated by Randy Blasing & Mutlu Konuk
Leonard Durso 