POETRY FEBRUARY 3, 2013
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Today is Sunday.
Today, for the first time, they let me go out into the sun.
And I stood there I didn’t move,
struck for the first time, the very first time ever:
how far away from me the sky is
how blue it is
how wide.
I sat down, in respect, in awe, I sat down on the ground,
I leaned my back against the wall.
In this moment, there were no waves to fall into;
in this moment, there was no liberty, and no wife, my wife.
There was only the earth beneath me, the sun above me, and me.
And how I am grateful, I am happy, to have this thing I call my life.
2 comments
this is a translation of a poem by the Turkish poet Nazım Hikmet. The online heading "by Joshue Weiner" makes it confusing. Wouldn't it be better to say "A poem by Nazım Hikmet, translated by Joshua Weiner." ? Unless for some reason I am not seeing the whole page, the new New Republic web site is a disappointment. When will it be fixed? Not a big fan of Chris Hughes so far.
- emresonmez@earthlink.net
February 3, 2013 at 4:22pm
I had no idea it's a translation. Thanks for the information. It changes the way I respond to the poem.
- basman
February 4, 2013 at 1:17am