Remember This Name: Orhan Veli

i like poetry.  sometimes.  i'm very picky about what i like and
what i think is really good -- or even excellent -- poetry.

about 4 years ago, i was introduced to the poetry of a man
named orhan veli.  at first, i didn't know what to think of him.
his poems were short, simple. 

as i read more of his work, however, i saw the profundity of
his simple little poems.  like haiku, they seem to capture the
essence of a brief thought, a passing moment, or a flash of pain,
in a very succinct and perfect way.

when i read veli's poems, i feel as if i'm seeing someone's thoughts,
reading someone's feelings -- not his words, but his actual thoughts
and feelings.

and i identify with much of what veli has written.  it's life, it's love,
it's human.  veli always makes me realize that the bittersweet is
the beautiful, the gut-wrenching the liberating, the somber the
euphoric.  his poetry tells me that there is no shame when it comes
to sharing human emotions.

THE POEM OF BEING LONELY

They don't know,
Those who don't live alone,
How frightening is Soundlessness;
How a person talks to himself,
How he runs to mirrors,
Hungry for a soul,
They don't know it.

AM I IN LOVE?

Was I going to have thoughts also?
Was I going to be an insomniac like this?
Was I going to be quiet like this?
To stop caring for the tossed salad I loved so much?
Was I going to turn into this?



SADNESS

I might have got angry
With those I love
If love
Hadn't taught me
To be sad.

SEPARATION

I stand behind the boat, watching;
I cannot jump into the water, the world is lovely;
I am also a man, after all; I can't cry.

http://www.cs.rpi.edu/~sibel/poetry/orhan_veli.html

http://www.cs.rpi.edu/~sibel/poetry/books/i_orhan_veli/