as though I were in a vacuum suspended in an abyss

Come on, let’s get a hot drink somewhere
a tall door, gateway to endless dreams
an old language no one speaks it anymore
dried tomatoes and dried suns
a somnolent stray cat, a love no one benefits from
in thehistorical yeldeğirmeni quarter
bread and wine in suspense
tales that you whisper in your own ears
elixirs of poverty and loneliness

The summer is far away, half way to our face
the summer is far away
there are high willows
there are deserted parks
sounds are there, anticipating to shut up
and colors, anticipating to fade away
steel screens to keep birds imprisoned,
breaths and words accumulated in us
every woman has an animus
every man a summer
there is in everything something unanticipated
something you expected to find
Come, see our calf love is back?
trees rooted out from their places in the forest
along with our hats and umbrellas
the long forgotten legends of the Middle Ages,
lullabies, letters left out, new letters to fill the gap
now let’s put off bad things til next Monday
and find something hot to drink to keep us warm
come along you, the summer is still far away.

Born in 1963, TOZAN ALKAN is a member of Turkish Writers’ Union and of the Translators Association. He has translated from such world famous authors like Anatole France, Charles Baudelaire, Lord Byron, Victor Hugo, Oscar Wilde, William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Tristan Tzara Philippe Soupault, D.H. Lawrence, William Butler Yeats, Federico Garcia Lorca, Antonio Machado and Alfonsina Storni. His poetry books: Time and Mask (2002) Early Evenings of Heart (2005), The Wind (2007), A City Will Come To You (2011) and The Open Door (2014). He was awarded "Behçet Aysan" and "Metin Altıok" prizes in poetry.