TE16 Turkish Delight

Haydar Ergulen Inner Nefes

she ordered a tea, on the train we were train passengers, in the desert I’d been left alone, within you and yet how many others had I pushed aside to love you

we’ve passed by love, you can open your eyes now

she’d taken shelter in language, in one of its words her path crossed mine, in the desert I was worn out, within you and yet in how many children did I praise in your place

we’ve passed by the dream, you can look at yourself now

she’d broken down in me alone, well within me and staked her vast pavilion within my soul who was I good for now, within you and yet how many gardens did I neglect tending you

we’ve passed by someone, but you can’t ask who

(tr. by Caroline Stockford and Selhan Savcıgil Endres)

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