How much of flight is wind, how much the bird? How much the stubborn call of freedom? Branches follow the logic of light and the natural miracle… Read more “Miracles Delivered on the Wind”
Category: Poems with Ilhan
Poems written one stanza each in call and response between Ilhan in prison and a poet in the outside world.
Incidence of Joy
I entered your words like a story book and got lost in the forest of meaning. I found the clearing steeped in sunshine and there I saw… Read more “Incidence of Joy”
We are beholden to Water
Waves on the beach attain their smoothest state. I feel the pulse of their splashing as it rushes to silence. The wave that hits the beach smooths… Read more “We are beholden to Water”
Rain dream
Spring comes like a rain dream. I awaited its coming, all at once I was soaked. Everything was water, suddenly, everything green and the beginning had long… Read more “Rain dream”
The mind’s fresh rose
Not our hands but our minds reach out to you. Our thoughts seek you like migrating birds. A search party set out. They drank your words like… Read more “The mind’s fresh rose”
Towards the day
I remain like a glass sphere in all this chaos. Not the slightest movement. I sewed a robe from the sky dark as diamond, bright as coal… Read more “Towards the day”
Shine Without Shadow
Perhaps they tell you my name, as my face breaks up in a broken mirror. What do you expect from a silhouette? Let water pour from my… Read more “Shine Without Shadow”
Swimming like a Yellow Ghost
First I thought of the freshness of the shade in which I hide. The sound of the city, mountain’s distant grandeur. And the clumsy attempts of fledglings… Read more “Swimming like a Yellow Ghost”
Time in the Ripening of Fruit
In March 2020 İlhan Sami Çomak and Caroline Stockford began to send each other 5 separate stanzas by post between the UK and Silivri Prison. They wrote… Read more “Time in the Ripening of Fruit”
At a Quarter to Dawn
Let me tell you of waters today, Of the smell of cut roses in baskets, of my desire to climb the willow tree and of longings that… Read more “At a Quarter to Dawn”
Free the Poet Ilhan Çomak 