Poems by Enver Topaloğlu

\FROM THE BOOK ‘LOVE RECORDS’ (2013)

THE EVENING WITH A WHITE FORELOCK

today I worked very hard again, read
and wrote
I’m covered with dust of words

darling, take me home

THE LYRE OF THE LOSERS

love is being on earth
before the gods

darling, take me home

LINGERING

-for my grandma meryem

today is april 24
I can’t say more
I can’t help sobbing

darling, take me home




FROM THE BOOK ‘NAZİRE’ (2017)

alas
said
my mom
enver
went
to school
and
never
got back

quatrains

11/
rain drop
realized when it hit the rock
that it didn’t cause a flood maybe
but caused a beginning on the stone

22/
lives are struggling
within cities of ash
children have become clouds
in their mothers’ arms

26/
on the tip of branches
an exhausted cloud
lets its tears from the night
to the wind

38/
smyrna is a sunken-ship
in the gulf
on its deck along four seasons
is the ecstatic city




FROM THE BOOK ‘UNTIL WE LEAVE’ (2019)

6/
mirror of days looking at each other
time
I throw a stone to the sea
a deep knife scar on the water

I wonder how long it will bleed
unless a couple of
noisy seagulls kiss
and cover that wound
on its back

16/
love
is the geography between two hearts

philosophy art history and even
politics
but
love is the civilization between two hearts

38/
bus stops
underground stations
market places
crowds
the yellow look last look
of a life covered by newspapers
no train can take you and go
no ceremony can your delayed smile attend

we are so
we believe in purity
in semi colons
and
in resistance


Translation by Tamer Gülbek

​

Enver Topaloğlu was born in 1963 in Ordu. His first poem was published at Yarın literary revivew in 1983. After long interval his second poem was published at Edebiyat Dostları (Literary Friends) in 1987. He continued at in 90’s publishing  his poems at various literary reviews such as Defter, Varlık, Gösteri, Yasak Meyve, NoEdebiyat, Cumartesi, Duvar, and Evrensel Kültür. He helped to publish NoEdebiyat Literary review as editor and starting from 2005. He worked as redactor at Cumhuriyet newsletter and is now working at Duvar(The Wall) newspaper's writing on poetry at every Saturday.

His poetry books:  Yakamoz ve Tebessüm / Phosphorescence and Smile
 (e publishing house, 1993),    KristalKral/Crystal King(Noyirmiyedi publishing house, 1997), Divane (Şiirden,     publishing house  2006), Aşk Kayıtları/ Love Records (Yitik Ülke publishing house, 2013) and Nazire/ Looming (NoKitap publishing house 2017)

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