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 of hungry cats
And extending curiosity out among all animals
It is the darkness that makes my night voice heard
And makes it easier to say 'the moon will come up late'
For years my feet have been cold, so cold
When I say this, it helps me compare winter to snow
Spring will begin today, I know
Reading poetry helps me believe that feeling
It reminds me I don't miss the Istanbul bustle
Lets me know things to tell my love in a letter
When I'm tired, to stop and rest, not to drink water when I sweat,
It helps me to cry and fret over wildfires, over death
To know anger's reserved just for evil
To stop and ask forgiveness of women
To feel youth when young, to understand it later on,
It's good for helping me to sit and write new poems
Good for helping me seduce and flatter
Then to kiss my love when the leaves turn yellow
Ilhan Sami Çomak is a Kurdish poet, writing in Turkish. He has published nine books of poetry. He has spent 28 years in prison (seven in solitary confinement). He has won two major literary prizes in Turkey, been accepted as a member of the Authors Union of Turkey and this year received the Freedom of Expression Prize of the Norwegian Authors' Union. He is also an honorary member of PEN na hEireann, Today’s poem is from Separated from the Sun (translations of his work by Caroline Stockford, Smokestack Books)
And for feeling the moment that stone turns impatient
It's good for looking in the eyes of hungry cats
And extending curiosity out among all animals
It is the darkness that makes my night voice heard
And makes it easier to say 'the moon will come up late'
For years my feet have been cold, so cold
When I say this, it helps me compare winter to snow
Spring will begin today, I know
Reading poetry helps me believe that feeling
It reminds me I don't miss the Istanbul bustle
Lets me know things to tell my love in a letter
When I'm tired, to stop and rest, not to drink water when I sweat,
It helps me to cry and fret over wildfires, over death
To know anger's reserved just for evil
To stop and ask forgiveness of women
To feel youth when young, to understand it later on,
It's good for helping me to sit and write new poems
Good for helping me seduce and flatter
Then to kiss my love when the leaves turn yellow
Ilhan Sami Çomak is a Kurdish poet, writing in Turkish. He has published nine books of poetry. He has spent 28 years in prison (seven in solitary confinement). He has won two major literary prizes in Turkey, been accepted as a member of the Authors Union of Turkey and this year received the Freedom of Expression Prize of the Norwegian Authors' Union. He is also an honorary member of PEN na hEireann, Today’s poem is from Separated from the Sun (translations of his work by Caroline Stockford, Smokestack Books)
