I cross the river to pluck hibiscus,
In the orchid marsh, many scented plants.
I pluck, but whom should I give them to?
For my love resides in a distant land.
Turning my head, I look toward home,
Along that vast and endless road.
Our hearts are one, yet we dwell apart,
Worrying and grieving till we grow old.
separation
There Is Something Like Alcohol by Orhan Veli Kanik
There is something like alcohol in this air;
It’s making a guy like me feel bad, bad,
Especially if I’m also homesick;
Your lover one place,
You someplace else;
It’s making a person like me feel sad, sad.
There is something like alcohol in this air;
It’s making a guy like me drink, drink.
Roads Too Early by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar
Roads disappeared early
I lost my hope of disappearing
Something else covered your foot steps
Beyond the silence colored moon
Far away from everything, and stars
You became the denier of all gardens
Built your house where my freezing winds
Can’t find a branch to break
Lines Three, Five, Seven Words Long by Li Bai
Autumn wind clear,
autumn moon bright,
fallen leaves gather in piles, then scatter,
and crows settling-in, cold, startle away.
Will we ever see, ever even think of each other again?
This night, this moment: impossible to feel it all.
Separation by Nazim Hikmet
separation swings through the air like a steel bar
it keeps smacking me in the face
I’m staggering
I run away it chases me
there’s no escaping it
my knees fail I’m falling
separation isn’t time or distance
it’s the bridge between us
finer than silk thread sharper than a sword
finer than silk thread sharper than a sword
separation is the bridge between us
even when we sit knee to knee
Leonard Durso 