I place my notebook before me,
and life expands exponentially!
But I long for the forests: geometry of green
Want the other side of light and dark;
other side of the cool of morning.
Sometimes I think of the stream,
bathing in waters I thought were all mine,
in childlike excitement,
Opening my arms in those wingless days
pretending to be a bird! Immeasurable heat
of the sun mixed with plenteous thunder of rain.
I stop and listen to the dripping tap, listen
to seedlings as they pierce earth. Yes, I listen
to the tedious onrush of time with tears
for my memories! All that's denied to me
calls to earth and in the name of longing.
Laughing and crying I stretch a hand, for ever,
to all colours, fragile as a stemless rose.
Yes, hunger is a beast of all seasons
But love is everywhere!
Ilhan Sami Çomak
Translated by Caroline Stockford
February 2021
Written in response to John Casquarelli's poem
'When My Journey Becomes a Pirouette'
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