3 Stars
Very lyrical and smooth reading in this small compilation of Hikmet's poetry. His communist affiliation is evident in many pieces, most obviously his prison pieces feature it prominently. Born at the turn of the twentieth century in Thessaloniki what was still the Ottoman Empire, but which is now Greece and not Turkey. You live long enough and everything changes hands. He spoke in his poem entitled Autobiography that he writes of absences, and there is a poignancy to his writing that is palpable. He presents sentiments simply and beautifully.
I Stepped Out of My Thoughts of Death
I stepped out of my thoughts of death
and put on the June leaves of the boulevards
those of May after all were too young for me
a whole summer is waiting for me
a city summer with its hot stones
and asphalt with its ice-cold pop ice cream
sweaty movie houses thick-voiced actors from the provinces
with its taxis that disappear suddenly on big football days
and with its trees that turn to paper under the lights of the Hermitage garden
and maybe with Mexican songs of Ghana tom-toms
and with the poems that I’m going to read on the balcony
and with your hair cut a little shorter
a city summer is waiting for me
I put on the June leaves of the boulevards
I stepped out of my thoughts of death
24 May 1962
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