Nilay Öztürk 

Translator

Pulling into the station, our trains pause
and I catch your eye across everything
that separates us. I wait to leave but, in a moment
of stillness, I hold your gaze.

Do you too feel that every journey
takes you in larger circles away from home.
For a moment, though soon we will move
in opposite directions, it feels
as though I have come to rest.

Any idiot can become a genius if she wants it badly enough.

One must study how the crow flies.

One must say to oneself as the crow flies so fly I.

In the dream I am an empty tree.  One by one my branches fill with silent crows who have travelled great distances to reach me.  Each crow contains a golden seed of knowledge locked in its craw and by containing them all in my humble crown I contain all knowledge of the kingdom.

My attempts to remember are proof in themselves.

At times one must accompany a shadow like the moon above a field of bitter greens.  

In this wretched spirit the pilgrim applies herself and is rewarded.

I only felt in the midst of my suffering the presence of a love, she explains, like that which one can read in the smile on a beloved face.

I can’t help what I want.

There is no such thing as a dream that comes true.  

Every dream is already true the moment it is dreamed.

We have reached the end of the road
And must now go separate ways
We must still remember the days
That we passed through together
Now, as we go separate paths of life
Let us dip our thoughts deep
Into our memories of yesteryears
As our tears gushing with pain
Stream down our cheeks
Let us taste these salty tears
Streaming down our cheeks
Let us listen to the lamentations
Of the voices hidden in our inner beings
Now that we are becoming separate
In thought and in fault
In the worth of our mirth
We shall live differently
I shall live a life unsupported
By the roots of our guiding friendship
A life of tears as wide seas
That I have to cross to reach the lands of happiness
And the worlds of bright laughter
I shall dip this pen of mine
In my flesh to where I shall feel pain the most
It is then that I shall scribble verses
That are punctuated by the blood shed
Shed as we were being separated
One’s soul and flesh from the other’s
Verses that are consonated by the breaths
Our breaths beaten, broken and brought to a halt
I shall deep my fingers in your wounds
And so shall you do too in mine
So that we share our pains together
Dear, as we say goodbye to each other
Let us not hide our tears for each other
Let us not hide them away from each other
Let us cry together
As we pray that we meet again
Therefore, ’till we meet again
It’s goodbye