Was it you who sparked great fires
While playing with matches in a confined space?
There were times you laughed, times you wrote poetry
When a bird slipped past the stones of a slingshot
And beat its wing against the sky,
I sought you out before the swan or the gazelle,
Before the reflecting pool or the hunter
I sought you out in those delicate books
Born of handiwork and loving care
Fair-skinned bread is my witness:
I sought you out before the dining table
Were you a bard, or a target for the kill?
I sought you out in the lethal identity
Of a bow held perpetually taut
My friend, who dreamed of the mountain’s far side
Before even climbing its near slope
O tree cast out for unjust reasons,
I sought you out as something apart from the forest
You, who sparked fires while playing with matches
I sought you out in scorched garments
I sought you out more than in a five-letter girl’s name
Or in the heart of a lover
How deeply you were missed, harbinger of my hope
So I sought you out in the unlikeliest places,
From the unlikeliest people
I picked fights when met with a hostile response
I journeyed into long exiles
Beside the rose that conceals its scent
You were the one who dreamed of the mountain’s far side
Before even climbing its near slope
You became the opening line of my poems.
English Translation by Mesut Şenol