Dr. Barbaros İrdelmen - Poetry

 

Dr. Barbaros İrdelmen is a Turkish poet, writer, translator, and retired specialist in internal medicine and nephrology, lives in Istanbul. With 19 published poetry collections to date, his works have been included in numerous national and international anthologies, poetry festivals, and selected literary compilations. Currently a poetry columnist for Edebiyat Magazin Newspaper and TV, also contributes actively to prominent literary journals such as Pazartesi14 NEYYA Edebiyat, Kirpi Edebiyat ve Düşünce Dergisi, writer for the Papirus Magazine, Literature House writer. As a member of the Writers Syndicate of Turkey, he is not only known for his original poetry but also as a leading figure in the translation of world poetry written in English into Turkish. He is also a member of the poetry translators community, part of the ITHACA Foundation (Spain), building cultural and literary bridges across borders through the power of poetry.

A Conversation with Yesterday

By Dr. Barbaros İrdelmen

When our eyes first met

we fell in love.

What day was it

when we were married?

You haven’t forgotten,

have you?

The children—

their graduations,

their going off to the army,

their weddings…

Then the grandchildren.

“Can such things ever be forgotten?”

we had laughed

the day I retired.

That grandchild in high school now—

when was he born?

Tell me,

do you remember

all of it?

Or was all of this

just yesterday,

truly?

*****

The Sign

By Barbaros İrdelmen

Ah, how long I have been waiting

for a sign

from those alluring,

colorful eyes!

If only it came…

Ah, then would crumble,

collapse into dust,

all the civilizations

that have ever been.

******* 

 I Wish You a Heaven, Mother

By Barbaros Irdelmen

Yesterday, your smile

still moved through the air.

Now the room

a quiet of unfinished sentences,

glances that stopped halfway.

On the side table,

a glass of tea gone cold.

Your room,

refusing time,

keeps a trace of your warmth.

I wish you a heaven, mother.

Let the earth be light above you.

Let the wind pass without knowing you.

Mountains should remain untouched.

The sky, unbroken.

The sea

free of all urgency.

At night,

may moonlight find your pages.

Let there be no distance

between you

and the names you carried.

Let longing

lose its language.

And happiness

no longer a thing

that must survive.

May your tea

never grow cold