[Photo Credit: Self (No! I was not drunk . . .); Location: On the road to Peja, Kosovo ~ Summer, 2018]
the mountains’ beauty
an intoxicating bliss
some of us are not
© hülya n. yılmaz, 10.13.2018
Category Archives: Reflections
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Filed under Reflections
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[Photo Credit: Self; Location: Skopje, Macedonia ~ Summer, 2018]
feelings of much guilt
too many suffer horrors
yet nature numbs me
© hülya n. yılmaz, 10.13.2018
Filed under Reflections
“Falling Leaves”
spiraling down
a bunch of dry leaves
landed on the asphalt
a bunch of dry leaves
landed on the asphalt
if my car did not crush them
drivers behind me surely did
drivers behind me surely did
the warm early-fall breeze
was too laid-back to enable
those beauties of nature’s recent past
one more minute to last
was too laid-back to enable
those beauties of nature’s recent past
one more minute to last
you may ask
what’s in a few dry leaves?
a mere excuse for me to contemplate
my travels in less fortunate lands
in one of them, called Palestine,
i had seen frivolous mercilessness,
that which stems from us,
the supposedly humane human species
for whose hate-filled greed
the innocent was being crushed
under the fancy tools of modernity
eagerly crafted by none other
than our so-called humanity
i screamed in silence
“enough already! when, where do you stop?”
facing such sorrow,
even my lungs could not keep up
they abandoned me in my shout
thus they keep falling prematurely
one new-growth of a leaf at a time . . .
even my lungs could not keep up
they abandoned me in my shout
thus they keep falling prematurely
one new-growth of a leaf at a time . . .
(c) hülya n. yılmaz, 10.1.2018
Filed under Poetry, Reflections
. . .
Dear readers who might be my Facebook and / or Instagram followers: This post will be a duplicate for you as I have recently posted it on my Timeline.
“Good Morning, Princess!”
the cook with a broad sweet smile
laughter served each day
(c) hülya n. yılmaz, 10.6.2018
[Photo Credit: Self; Location: Giza, Cairo]
Filed under Reflections
Filistin aklımda . . .
A poem in my native tongue, in response to the silence we resort to in the face of atrocities with which the innocent are being erased from the face of the Earth:
Filistin’in masumları,
kalbimden dilime taşan
tuzlu damlalarla birlik olmuş,
umutsuz bir ümitle haykırıyor.
Sessizce.
Için için.
Ne çare!
Insanlık uykuda.
Insanlık unutkan.
Ben dahil.
Insanlık seçici.
Insanlık kendi rahatında.
Ben dahil.
Umursamazlık,
Vurdumduymazlık
Günün sloganı.
O kadarla da kalmıyor:
Her yeni günün odağı
Konumunda
Tahtını koruyor.
Acaba, diyorum,
Bir dakika sussak,
Susabilsek yani,
Mazlumlardan kendisine yol döşeyen
Postalların asitte bekletilmiş bağcıklarıyla
Birer birer eritilip yitenlerin
Çığlıklarıni dinlesek,
Ya da sosyal medya hatırına olsun,
Dinler gibi yapsak?
Acaba, diyorum.
Sadece, acaba . . .
(c) hülya n yılmaz, 18 Eylül 2018
Filed under Poetry, Reflections
“Positano”
Hayat, sana teşekkür ederim!
many a moons ago,
i fell in love
with Positano
in a book
in the film of that book
but long before that,
in a single image of it
which was donning a small balcony
overlooking a cliff over a calm sea
i am in Skopje now
not in Italy
not even close . . .
sitting on a small balcony
with a stunning view of the city
its surrounding mountains
strut justifiably
their majestic beauty
the Sun has watched over me
looked after me
saw me fall asleep last night
in my lately ailing body
waited patiently
to wake me up early this morning
to its spectacular show
to let me know
i have to heal faster
i just must
for life’s unimaginable offerings
are here for me to see
there is no sea
not here
i have however seen aplenty
already
devoured each one by one
along the way
they all are inside me
and forever, they will stay
forgive me, Positano
i am still in love with you
but with Skopje too
though also with Monastir
Larache
Assilah
Petra
the Dead Sea
Bethlehem
Mar Saba
Ramallah
Madaba
Mount Nebo
Wadi Musa
Amman
Giza
many a moons ago,
i had concluded
my own life was just that:
as good as it got
back then . . .
the universe, however, had
something totally different in mind
i am falling in love
with its every nuance over and over
i keep my spirit’s eyes wide open
as i do so with my soul’s arms
while i fly on a magical spread
on and on and on . . .
i am on a small balcony
Skopje is the name this time
its magical mountains
span expansively before me
with a full view
over a unique sea
of this Macedonian city
Hayat, sana teşekkür ederim!
(c) hülya n. yılmaz, 9.12.2018
[Photo Credit: Self; View Inn Boutique Hotel, Skopje)
Filed under Poetry, Reflections
“breakfast”
i am about to eat the new day's first meal in Nefertiti's legendary presence the Pharaohs may object but my soul uncorrupted is ready to commune with all for all at the end of the "Sound and Light" show last night while the Pyramids stood upright having defied the impact of many a deadly earthquakes not having caved in to the soft silky sands underneath standing majestically erect evidencing the fatal flaw of modernity's claim that it was humans who built these World Wonders though Man can still not prove the technology required for their construction had been available to men or women back then while i half-heartedly listened to the theatrical staging of perhaps one of a kind my soul entered the Sphinx and the Pyramids there, i met my past life again the last musical piece was most-intoxicating each move left me in contemplative tears my entire life passed by my core essence all beloveds who had stepped on Earth leaving their frames behind their spirits intact watching over humanity caring for them waiting patiently for their hearts' eyes to open ajar they assembled before me one by one i lost the count an all-inclusive assembly of humans how can anyone ever do such a math and the Ultimate One . . . invisible untouchable mute only to be conceived not to be conceptualized but only to be conceived as Rumi asserted time and time again . . . i am one one is what i am i am all all is what i am i am not becoming i am here and now hülya n yılmaz, 8.28.2018
[Photo Credit: Self; A view from the balcony
of our hotel on the Giza Plateau in Egypt]
Filed under Poetry, Reflections
“sun-kissed”
beat worn-out from the heat and awe waking up from a nap on a couch in a hotel room in Egypt on its Giza Plateau facing the Pyramids not staged by Hollywood but for real no sight of the Sphinx my eyes drooled over before for i am lying flat and am still the couch has no pillow-fill my head might as well be on the ground exhaustion keeps me from moving about is this a postcard a dream or am i hallucinating the wide wall-to-wall balcony window winks at me as instructed by the Sun on a tray of bright and hot rays framed up by the bluest skies the Pyramids tell me my post-nap trance is here to stay while i eye them intently intensely in quest of an answer to the lure of their lore nothing speaks back to me of course all i know is in that which i see i thus admit to myself my newly-surfaced gut-instinct: they may have been soaked by Man's sweat but these inconceivable gifts to Earth surely must have been touched at least once by gods or goddesses of ancient times or by the energy of their mightiest god's light i stop to think and let it all be while i hold on to my wits with all my might for one thing is for sure: this is being one hell of a ride hülya n. yılmaz, 8.27.2018
Filed under Reflections
Yes, I have been inspired. Hence, MIA!
In the last few weeks , we have been through many Bedouin camps, breathtaking scenery of desert land, high mountains, deep deep deep valleys, and much more. As to be expected on a as nature-oriented of a journey as this one, to connect to the Internet often was simply out of the question. We have accumulated a considerable amount of photographs we, ourselves, have taken. I am here today, connected (!) to share a few of those with you, dear reader. The images, however, do not do justice in any means to the actual sights . . . Enjoy!
[Credit for the pictures: Self]
On desert roads and a camel ride in Petra, Jordan
Filed under Reflections
“at Jordan’s Jarash Festival”
sitting in the Roman amphitheater
in anticipation of the global gathering of poets
transported in time and space
i am in an amphitheater in Turkey
my country of birth
and feel Side in me
Efes comes alive inside
Bodrum joins in joyously
her world-renowned white would go so well
with the various earth tones
Jarash offers in abundance
as does Amman at large
my adored host town for the summer
Oh, Jordan
i may have fallen in love with you . . .
i haven’t been to my homeland
in too long of a while
i cannot recall the last time i inhaled
the magical aroma of Side Efes Bodrum
my childhood and youth companion Ankara
Istanbul my grandparents’ initial home
the entire globe’s focus of wonder
sitting on its unique throne
between two continents
in all its centuries-rich glory
while Sinop my adopted Turkish hometown
still keeps me at an ocean’s distance
from her picturesque beauty
since my last loved one’s death
housed yet homeless
for the lacking geography
the home-scented soil’s delight
the gut-laughter’s home-grown fillings
and the condition-less-ly all-embracing air
Oh, Jordan
i may have fallen in love with you . . .
i am enchanted by your Amman
your Zarqa your Al-Karak your Jerash
your people’s mesmerizing warmth
your beloveds’ heart-generosity
your rare gem of natural beauty
your out-of-this-world valleys
your majestically high mountains
your incredible all-encompassing history
in trance with the dance
of poetry’s magical tunes
accompanied by age-old Ud
as brought to life by the tenderly masterful
yet modest hands of a lyrical gift of the ancient past
never mind the to-me-foreign phonetics!
my loss of course but i refuse to fret it
for there is one sound
one sound alone
and that is all there is:
in the soul we are united
through the soul we all speak
shared smiles shine brighter than the noon sun
lighting our blurred paths in the darkest of our nights
poets and non-poets alike
men women young or old
from all walks of life and space
together with children’s delightful giggles
easily evidence pure innocence is acutely in place
Oh, Jordan
i may have fallen in love with you . . .
© hülya n. yılmaz, July 27, 2018
Filed under Poetry, Reflections
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