a woman of Anatolia
thousands of years
numbers of civilizations
splendor in built-in riches
artifacts
nature
social, economic, religious reforms met the onset of 1923
Mustafa Kemal in Turkey – the infant republic’s first president
over night, the gentle father of his country for her people
she led a prosperous life since
enviable by the then world powers
jealous of his immense success
from the ruins of the Ottoman land
women became free
not in public merely
but also in their privacy
in her unrivaled bosom
the honor the pride of countless cultural icons
immersed in precious peace-filled diversity
self-differing faiths settled safely inside her
attained in his honor her long overdue legacy
tolerance
acceptance
co-existence ruled
decades later…
corruption
disruption
deconstruction
religion’s unreligious re-construction
of a merciless tyrant raped and is still raping her
unrelenting in its destruction of her glorious past
harmonious present
having robbed her of her dazzling future
monstrosity rules today
with its brutal violation of Turkish women’s fate
with no drop of hope for any left behind to date
© hülya n. yılmaz, February 16, 2015
This poem is one of my three contributions for the February 2015 issue of The Year of the Poet, a monthly book series published by Inner Child Press, Ltd.
Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) Photo Source
Nazım Hikmet Photo and Spoken Poem Source
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