FLOWER OF MISERY
"Belâ Cicegi," Belâ Cicegi (1983).
Ankara: Bilgi Yayinevi, p. 24.
exhausted they were at the alsancak train station
flower of misery in the night was the clock at the station
nothing existed but themselves
a treacherous trembling seized the man
his hands were torn they were handcuffed
the wife was carrying his bag
nobody knew who they were
flower of misery in the night was the clock at the station
they got on a third-class car
it became clear the man would go
they seemed to have given up something
try what he may he couldn’t look at his wife
standing they smoked cheap cigarettes
flower of misery in the night was the clock at the station
they had already fallen in solitude
past and future in darkness
suddenly they turned pale
quietly the cars began moving
Requiem
ReplyDeleteThe title means "Rest." It is the first word of the introit of a Latin Mass for dead. "Give eternal rest to them, O Lord" The last two lines of this poem are inscribed on Stevenson's monument in Samoa.
Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.
(1884)
Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 - 1894