TE16 Turkish Delight

Ten Poems

Hewn by Light

Before in drunken waters of a brook Where spears gleam and reflect That long past sun which exhausted moon. I had gotten the shape of a person Who thinks of what comes next, Who stretched out fingernails From where the prayer rug was folded, To the apple, the orange , the bread crumbs That fitted the mold of my feet. These darkening as light made its visible course. My hand lengthened, and my arm more, So I was the picture, the man on a rock, With my fingers as long as my backbone That was being hewn by axes of light. Caravans passed by, I bent my knee. I remember the difference in temperature, Difference between the day and the night, I remember how it was scattering mint leaves Then kissing that part of you I understood.

(tr. Anna Wood and Michael Baron)

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