Four Poems

Two Small Pomegranates

If you want a garden to grow look
inside a pomegranate look long look deep
at the core there’s a school and a blue girl
they’re a garden but also a park
if you want to wander the heart
leave it in a pomegranate

“We’re here to figure out . . .”

out on the street I found a letter
there was no envelope
nothing written inside
like a Qalandar dervish it kept hidden
its form lost its designation gone
the script that gave it life worn from its skin
or maybe it’s a Hurufi letter
its writing secret its letter on the way
as though the envelope enveloped the whole world

[The title of this poem is taken from a line of Ahmed Arif’s poem “Karanfil Sokağı”: “We’re here to figure out each and every thing.” Qalandar and Hurufi are different Sufi orders.]

Blue above Black

let’s talk blue let’s write blue
as letters go in an envelope: blue
as a word leaves the mouth: blue
a path between two partings: blue
eye comes to eye: blue: a closeness of boy-and-girl
a blue moment like time inside lights
let’s not forget blue let’s leave black out of it
blue: let it be the longest poem not forgotten

Rubaiyat

Maybe the only real letters are still in the envelope: 
     unopened
the postmark undisclosed the inside unknown
maybe the words only come when it’s opened
maybe letters are sacred only so long as they’re
unwritten

From Zarf / Envelope (2010)

Translations from the Turkish
By Derick Mattern