A Burial Place

I could never escape paying rent
all my life.

When I was young,
it never troubled me.
“Bury me,” I would say,
“wherever I happen to die.”

As the years passed,
my thoughts changed.

Now I am searching
for a place far from the city,
with white marble
and a view of the sea—

to be buried there,
and never have to move again.

Barbaros İrdelmen

İstanbul/Turkey

Love

By Dr ©®Barbaros İrdelmen

It cannot be told
by drowning someone in false words,
by smothering them in gifts,
by laying red carpets along their path.

Never with splendor—
love is not wrapped in shining paper.

To love
is to sit at the edge of the soul,
without a rope of safety,
with a lamp that gives no light,
and descend into a mysterious well.

To love
is to wander fearlessly
through the hidden chambers of faces
where fragile dawns tremble.

In that dark silence,
to hear what is left unsaid,
to see what mirrors do not reflect,
to become the sun that enlightens hearts
with sincere glances mistaken for faintness.

Even if centuries pass,
though fragile and trembling,
it is the majestic mountain
whose name never changes,
the one you always seek refuge in—
to love.

Tavşancıl, Turkey
Copyright reserved

We Were Young

I was smitten with your smile

And you, to my compassionate gaze

How we liked each other

When we meet

We held hands and decided

We’re ready to join our lives together

Brides, grooms, in-laws, grandchildren

Half a century of ups and downs

We lived happily together

Now?

Our springs are tense

Our arrows are sharp

Axes at our waist

We dislike each other…

Dr Barbaros Irdelmen