Who Told You To
Leave Your Country
He
could not stand to leave his soil,
Or
he could not stand to stand still.
One
day, as if whispering to life gently,
He
hung his last breath onto the clouds.
Ah
lonely palm, desolate palm
Who
told you to leave your country...
He
was staying alone, desolate in the garden.
They
brought some friends for him on upcoming days.
12
new palms. But he could not get along with them.
He
missed his childhood and young age friends.
Ah
lonely palm, desolate palm
Who
told you to go far away and not return...
He
chatted with the birds on gray cloudy days,
He
had fun with the frogs, although he couldn’t move.
He
couldn’t convince the ants in any way.
They
bit him into bits and pieces, they dried him up.
Ah
lonely palm, desolate palm,
Who
told you to break off with your country...
They
saw him only while watering him,
While
watering him with hose, talking to him.
What
they hoped for was maybe to alleviate his loneliness
Or
maybe their own loneliness, who knows...
Ah
lonely palm, desolate palm,
Who
told you to become an ascetic...
Now
he has been looking at the garden from the sky,
While
he has been thinking about the days full of sorrow,
He
comes up with an advice for those who plan to leave,
“Don’t
burn the bridges, the roots are in your own country” he says.
Ah
lonely palm, desolate palm,
Who
didn’t tell you this before; you see you ruined your life...
Ulaş
Başar Gezgin
August
5, 2015
(*)
Inspired by Afro-Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén
(1902-1989)’s ‘Lonely Palm’ and Quilapayun’s song based on the poem, as well as
the death of a palm tree in real life.
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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.
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