Poems by ​Çağla Çinili

Ecrin*

I shall lay you in the heart of Mariana Trench
inside an iridescent oyster with a murky outer shell.
Marbled hatchetfish on cradle watch
for dolphins to lullaby,
rowdy currents
to soothe graciously

I shall wrap you in a serene spider nest
buried on the forehead of Mount Everest
may the ice sheets warm your palms
may they avalanche against ill will
stopping on their tracks
those with sins heavier
than the night wind can carry

I shall embroider you onto forgotten tales
in an uncharted language
pirates, giants and witches
take a stance at the end of each sentence
my dear, you wouldn’t believe if you heard it
fairies are hand in hand with ghouls
your tale is whereby eternalized.



you; ecrin
fire; ecrin
water; ecrin
life and leaf
branch and wind
baby and child Ecrin
we have frozen the fire
and dried the water
we were not a mountain or a stone or sand or the sun
but eight billion Adams and Hawas
every night did we pray
every morning did we stone the Shaitan
yet we couldn’t keep you safe
from a single doom




* Ecrin: Means the God’s reward in Islamic belief. Ecrin is also the name of a baby murdered in Samsun district of Turkey in May 2019.


NOTHINGNESS

Every rebellion gives birth to its prophet.

• as Allah is Akbar.

reason why each rebellion has a Jesus.

One should die while living in order not to have died for nothing. 

•  as Allah is Ar-Rasheed, 

reason why, like a rabid dog, unleashes love inside my being.

And no innocent will perish without bathing in sin.

• as Allah is Al-Khaafid.

reason why, each choice leads to a hegira.

No             is                 with           wholeness             Nothingness
       anarchy       measured               the                 of

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Çağla Çinili (1992, Sakarya) is a poet and a trial lawyer practicing family and criminal law. She currently lives and works in Istanbul, Turkey.  She graduated from Kocaeli University Faculty of Law in 2015, and is a current student of Sociology in Istanbul University. Her poems and stories have been published in literature magazines including Varlık, Akatalpa, Eliz Edebiyat, Babylon, Meneviş and Çevrimdışı İstanbul. Her poems explore themes around womanhood, childhood, mythology, spirituality, astrology and the occult. She’s an active member of TUBAKKOM (Turkish Bars Union Women's Legal Commission) promoting gender equality in law.

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