You rightly say I’ve stayed so long in exile in this well, the sun, never returning! I still have a yearning within me for light. I love… Read more “Ilhan’s response to John Macker”
Tag: Turkish poetry
Ilhan’s response to Blas Falconer (1)
I have a need for levity for balloons that quiver and expand, that take from me the heavy burden of life; of time. Like the line of… Read more “Ilhan’s response to Blas Falconer (1)”
Ilhan’s response to Jeffrey Cyphers Wright
Before looking to that clean corner of shade and budding lilac I washed my face and hands with copious water. Now, so refreshed. Resolute as a drop… Read more “Ilhan’s response to Jeffrey Cyphers Wright”
Ilhan’s reponse to John Casquarelli
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;… Read more “Ilhan’s reponse to John Casquarelli”
Words by Celia de Fréine
for Ilhan Sami Çomak It was a chance encounter – I was taking my usual walk, he was visiting for the day. The hills could be seen… Read more “Words by Celia de Fréine”
Ilhan’s birthday reading, 8 March 2021
Here is the link to the birthday reading held to celebrate Ilhan’s birthday on 8 March 2021. Jointly organised by PEN Norway and Wales PEN Cymru, we… Read more “Ilhan’s birthday reading, 8 March 2021”
What Good Is Reading Poetry?
It’s good for making hands fine enough to touch silk And for feeling the moment that stone turns impatient It’s good for looking in the eyes… Read more “What Good Is Reading Poetry?”
Lit with Lightning by Haleh Liza Gafori
For Ilhan Sami Comak My friend wakes embers in a heap of ash. She adds wood, leans in to feed the fire with her breath. A… Read more “Lit with Lightning by Haleh Liza Gafori”
In the Palm of My Hand, Rivers by Tina Carlson
Because the fields of my childhood vanished, I carry smoke in my hair. I bed dank dirt in my hands. My father shook his wars, sank… Read more “In the Palm of My Hand, Rivers by Tina Carlson”
A River Can’t Help But Run by Gabriel Don
Magma is hot. Sand shifts. Volcanoes release. Peacocks deceive, Ladybugs too. The scorpion is simply a scorpion. The shark is simply a shark. A star is a… Read more “A River Can’t Help But Run by Gabriel Don”
Free the Poet Ilhan Çomak 