We Bid Farewell to the Sun and the Moon (poetry)

We Bid Farewell to the Sun and the Moon

In fact they release a luminous light

Like the Sun and the Moon. They can survive

Without the Sun nor the Moon with this resilience, nevertheless

We bid farewell to the Sun and the Moon for Istanbul.

So that they can enlighten the squares,

Those squares that missed people’s voices,

Those people held for ransom by December.

Let the sun arrive for those who got older

On the long streets of the city with two continents.

In fact they release a luminous light

Like the Sun and the Moon. They can survive

Without the Sun nor the Moon with this resilience, nevertheless

We bid farewell to the Sun and the Moon for Ankara.

We no longer have so many bookstores at Istiklal

Then let the Sun enlighten Güven Park,

Kızılay, Dikmen, Tuzluçayır,

Miner’s Statue, METU, Çankaya.

Let the Sun enlighten them, so that it would reflect their lights

Through all the dark layers.

In fact they release a luminous light

Like the Sun and the Moon. They can survive

Without the Sun nor the Moon with this resilience, nevertheless

We bid farewell to the Sun and the Moon for Izmir.

Kordonboyu, Karşıyaka, a cloudy day,

The seagulls accompany your journey,

What do the street musicians play on such a cold day?

Can you check it out for me, let them heat up the Sun and the Moon.

Frivolous as Narlıdere, assertive as the first university,

Those that fit perfectly with the country, but not with the palace officials.

In fact they release a luminous light

Like the Sun and the Moon. They can survive

Without the Sun nor the Moon with this resilience, nevertheless

We bid farewell to the Sun and the Moon for Aydın.

Day time always autumn always summer, night time frosty.

Surrounded by the mountains, sworn in the mountains,

‘Olive’rian excitements, ‘fig’itive laughters.

Cycling thoughts, views of gondolas.

The first recorded song in history, the railways.

The ancient tomb that says “We are born only one time”.

In fact they release a luminous light

Like the Sun and the Moon. They can survive

Without the Sun nor the Moon with this resilience, nevertheless

We bid farewell to the Sun and the Moon, in fact we lent them out

To receive them again the day after,

And then to lend them out again and again.

That is exactly what they mean by ‘life’.

Ulaş Başar Gezgin

December 1, 2014

Gezgin, U.B. (2017). You, I and Our Son - Poems of Peace, Longing and Love from Vietnam

POETRY BOOKS IN ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES / İNGİLİZCE VE DİĞER DİLLERDE ŞİİR KİTAPLARI 1. Gezgin, U.B. (2017). Yağmur Sonrası/ After Rain / После дождя / Diğer Dillerdeki Gezgin Şiirleri: Rusça, İngilizce, Tayca, Azerbaycanca, Vietnamca, İspanyolca ve Japonca [Gezgin’s Poetry in Other Languages: Russian, English, Thai, Azerbaijani, Vietnamese, Spanish and Japanese]. 2. Gezgin, U.B. (2017). You, I and Our Son - Poems of Peace, Longing and Love from Vietnam 3. Gezgin, U.B. (2017). For Those Who Will Sail Across The Oceans: An Explorer’s Vietnam Poems. 4. Gezgin, U. B. (2007). On a Tablet – English Poems by Ulas Basar Gezgin. Lulu.