In the memory of Nâzım Hikmet with respect

I’m writing these words from a bird nest
between two branches, in Gezi Park
like a knife my breath is stuck in my chest
they’re coming to destroy the sky
together with all the people of the earth

I’m a bird’s nest in Gezi Park
between two branches

here the people are poisoned
the trees are uprooted

we’re being expelled from
where our mothers invited us

they’re bombing the twittering of birds
-birds can’t produce the sound of cash-

Ethem* is heard, a simurg in fire!
A welding worker in Ankara
his body is collapsing like a feather
They’re turning us into earth before we die.
under smoke street children and cats...
on their hunched backs a lost dream
blind eyes can’t look at the world...
or fall to sleep in an unexpected moment!
in an unexpected moment to sleep...

I’m a bird’s nest in Gezi Park
between a pair of branches




*Ethem is a victim who was killed by the government in the protests