Pedrito’s 30 Days with ICE.Fictional Memoir

My Dear Readers:

After a prolonged hiatus, I am back on this platform. I would firstly like to extend my most sincere thanks to all my readers of the past who were kindly attentive to my back-then regular posts, poems and prose pieces alike. I have been away for quite a long time because I have been struggling at the core of my being to face the utterly shocking and disturbing events that materialized in the U.S. as well as in the world and continue to do so in our ever-evolving attitudes and perspectives toward our humanity.

I am an empath. Calling me a “hypersensitive” person would not be an exaggeration. (I have read on this matter heavily when experts in the field are concerned.) Once I forced myself to digest the terrifying news and to move from a reaction to an action, a venue opened up for me. Instead of remaining numb all day and all night long, I slowly began to put my thoughts and emotions into writing. I have found that my voice, our voices, to be significant and necessary, if we are to effectuate any semblance of change.

Today’s post is my first entry where I attempt to imagine the horrifying developments surrounding “Pedrito,” a child, whose family has been taken apart upon the order of mass deportations of American immigrants under the new regime.

In my posts for the upcoming 30 days, I will be adopting the format of a diary as composed by my protagonist Pedrito. If you are aware of the disastrous occurrences in the U.S., you will clearly see that my writings originate, in actuality, from actual happenings of monstrous scale.

Thank you once again for having been here to read me in the past, and thank you for being here today.

hülya n. yılmaz

Pedrito’s Diary, Day 1

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

My name is Pedro. I am 8 years old. My parents call me Pedrito. I have a sister, Gabriela. She is 4. Mama was washing me and my sister. She always does so after dinner. We brushed our teeth as we do every night before we go to bed. Mama started reading us both a story. Tonight, it was going to be a tale about grandparents. My grandparents live far away. I know them only from pictures. I kept my notebook on my lap. I hoped Mama to tell us about our grandparents.

A heavy banging on the door startled us. We heard Papa’s footsteps. He must have opened the house door. Papa was supposed to oil the hinges. The door squeaked as usual. Then came the thumps of many feet and yelling. Much yelling.

Papa’s voice was muzzled. We could only hear him say, “We have papers.” A man’s angry shout took over, “You are coming with us!”

The three of us rushed to the hallway. Papa was being held by two tall men in thick jackets. As they dragged Papa out the door, I saw “ICE” on their backs. 4 other tall men were still inside our house. They came for us. They pulled us apart. 2 grabbed Mama. 1 came to get me, the 4th, my sister.

Outside, we were all shoved into a black van. The engine was already on. The driver took off right away. We were in shock. We were so very scared. Gabriela started to cry. She couldn’t stop her sobbing. One of the men yelled at Mama: “Shut her up, or I will!”

© hülya n. yılmaz, 1.30.2025

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The Monster Under the Bed, a poem

the monster under the bed

the path to take was as visible as
our reflection on a clean mirror

an old being
of rapid cognitive decline,
a mere television personality,
bought by foreign power,
installed into the People’s House
by the same intruder . . . twice
while this time, also swimming
in the illegally-earned money
of his president,
a non-American billionaire

clueless in the most basic knowledge
about the matters of the world
and willfully ignorant of other countries,
an unalphabet in the history
of the United States,
unfit to govern even a 3rd world country

void of morals, ethics, and shame,
emptied of any sense of responsibility,
and full of overflowing hypocrisy

his veins and few brain cells
tainted in and feeding from
racism
bigotry
misogyny
hatred for all non-whites
strutting his overblown ego
deviant and highly skilled in corruption
deception and gaslighting
having exhausted all available
and potential crooked ways
through and through
throughout his life
vengeful
evil

a 34 times convicted felon
for crimes, including treason and rape
a chronic liar of notorious fame

and . . .
it breathes

Faust? Or Mephisto?

the monster under the bed

© hülya n. yılmaz, 12.24.2024

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“Hataların Bedeli”, a poem in Turkish

Hataların bedeli . . .
ağır mı ağır
can tokatlayıp duruyor kendisini

anne yadigarı . . .
baba yadigarı . . .
her biri yitti gitti

kalmayacak tek evladıma
elle tutulur bir hatıra

herkes gibi ben de yaptım birçok hata
fakat o ikisi yok mu,
şu ilerlemiş yaşımda vurdu beni diplerin en derinine

kalbimin tutağı paramparça
koymuştum onu ellerimin yerine

çıkabilirim içinden sandığım çıkmaz
dolandı kaldı nefes borumda

olmaz benden artık herhangi bir paha
bu geç mi geç saatten sonra!

© hülya n. yılmaz, 24 Ekim, 2024

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“Assigned Existences” – A Poem

Assigned Existences

Somewhere
someone has the nerve
to draw on a blank canvas
a sketch of your life; yes, YOUR life,
dictating to you how to live.

The same canvas, then, is made public.
The sketched you now have a broadly-recognized image.
YOU yourself, however, have been silent all along.

Somewhere
another someone
takes it upon him-/herself
to lend you word fragments and poor grammar.

Utterly popular has become that song,
taped on your behalf in absentia.
The recorded you now have a broadly-recognized voice.
YOU yourself, however, have been silent all along.

When, do YOU think, will your existence
be worthy enough to begin to live
YOUR life per a design
created by YOU?  

* The poem, “Assigned Existences”, has been published in the June 2024 issue of The Year of the Poet, published by Inner Child Press International.

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An old poem

dying to life

heart slows its beat
blood rushes to head
at every grasp of the loss
asleep, awake,
or in a dream state

ears deafen to sounds
eyes, blind to colors
voice trembles by steady tears
food serves to deaden the thirst

elation departs

eternal craving remains behind
and  keeps on and on and . . .

death comes
oh, yes! It comes
but not to kill . . .

it condemns to life
the undying void inside   

*From: Trance (published on October 19, 2014)
This poem has initially appeared under the title of “Elegy – 3” in the September 2013 issue of the Inner Child Magazine.

Yaşama Ölmek

Kalp atışını yavaşlatıyor.
Kan başa akın ediyor
Ölümcül kaybı her algıladığında,
Uykuda, ayıkken
Ya da rüya altında.

Kulaklar sese sağır kalıyor,
Gözler, renklere kör,
Dinmeyen gözyaşları ile ses titremede.
Lokmalar susuzluğu katlediyor.

Sevinç veda ediyor.

Geride kalıyor biteviye bir özlem
Ve yaşamakta direniyor.  

Ölüm geliyor.
Evet, geliyor.
Ama öldürmeye değil . . .

Ruhta bir türlü ölemeyen
İç boşluğunu
Hayata mahkum ediyor.

Türkçeye Çeviri © hülya n. yılmaz (6 Ekim, 2024)

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Mom and Dad

Mom and Dad

Alcoholic beverages
On Mesnevi Street
Apartment #6
Were aplenty.

Dad had a large collection.
Not that he drank a lot, no!
Our guests were always pleased.

My brother and I, of mature age,
Tasted the different liquors
Before Mom and Dad
So that
We won’t be tempted
To try them whenever with friends.

Their strategy worked superbly,
To which my daughter could attest.
Her father and I followed Mom and Dad
In their footsteps. She is a Mom herself now.

When her little precious darlings are old enough,
She might also teach them what my brother and I
Learned long before this day:
Home is the best place for everything.   

© hülya n. yılmaz, August 31, 2024

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“Like an Eagle”

An old poem . . .

Like an Eagle

İstanbul dons a large number of majestic forts.

Those structures from many ancient histories

May today not appear as powerful anymore,

But the debris alone suffice to astound
the willing eye through a mere peek
at the hauntingly mighty Bosphorus,
in sync with the influential breaths
that many civilizations of the past
have generously left in it to last.

I haven’t been there

in too long of a while;
in an empirical sense, that is.
Frequent visits

of my fertile imagination
have otherwise sated

my hunger and thirst.


My longing for the dead

who were left behind
and all my cravings

for the impeccable times
have been re-lived, time and again,
in harmony,
amid the scents of a caring love
ever so painstakingly.

I borrowed an eagle’s eye

on this special day,
then perched atop a bastion
and began to sway.

Palaces, tea houses, trolleys, Bazaars,
cafés, fishermen,
rare carpet – Kilim and antiquities-selling ambitious shops,
yachts, stately mosques,
the famed Dolmabahçe Sarai,
freighters, speed-boats, Hovercrafts,
scenic jogging paths
do not interest me in the least . . .
The eagle’s eye is a loan
for a refined delicacy.

I refuse to waste it for the mundane.

On the bottom of the Bosphorus,
all of a sudden,
underneath a recent undercurrent,
oh, so sullen!
Amid sea grass . . .

I spotted my brass keychain
of four distinctive keys.
On it, my elephant carried on.

I towed it heroically.
Its movable, pretty trunk
waved at me ecstatically.

I guided us all
to the astonishing Sinopian coasts,
to my breathtakingly serene flat-sanctuary . . .

But, I found, to my demise,
it no longer was there.

Only then, did i recall my dream

of last year,
on the night of the 2nd month’s 14th,

and . . .

my loaner eye wept.

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“Still Fearful, . . .”

(An old prose-poem)


Still Fearful, but . . .

An ezan* carries my soul to Sinop, my picturesque town by the Turkish Black Sea. This call to prayer sounds like a plea, sent to me by my loved ones who lived and died there. Their absences are for me too difficult of a loss to bear.

Vividly alive in my mind today are my late uncle’s stories of yore; how everything was previously. The one about the mosque, in particular, emerges in full clarity. I know that modest structure by heart. It denoted Sinop’s civilized past. Today, mosques and places for leisure attendance anywhere tend not to go hand in hand, mind you! Yet, a now-famed café had found its home at this one’s feet long ago. People gathered there to eat, drink, and play games. Neither outsiders nor the townsfolk thought that doing so was a shame.


Most of my loved ones from Turkey are now gone. While I survived, I lack the survival-know-how. The last stronghold of my Sinopian family lives no longer. My father’s hope to make a home there for myself has vanished with his demise. My inheritance, a flat eyeing the tranquil sea, has become someone else’s precious prize.

I struggle for my existence on a borrowed land with much demand. Having borrowed my loved ones’ butterfly-wings, I am trying hard to thrive on my own. All along, I opt to leave my cocoon not too soon. Still spry, my spirit flies far and above. In times of despair, an ezan* carries my soul to Sinop, my picturesque town by the Turkish Black Sea. The call to prayer sounds like a plea.

(* “Ezan” is a call to Muslim prayer)

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The Ills Are Taking Their Toll

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“That Poor Lamb”

That Poor Lamb

It was Kurban Bayramı. As the long-established tradition called for, lambs had to be sacrificed; their meat, to be distributed immediately among the needy.

            Our porter, whom my brother Süleyman and I affectionately called “Abdullah Amca”, was proud to be in a position to sacrifice a lamb for the first time without any monetary contributions from any of his relatives. He and his family had gathered outside of their ground-level home in our apartment building.

I was 10 or 11, and curious about the ongoing commotion down there. The lamb was tied to a pole. Once I saw that scene, I should have gone away immediately. I stayed, though, as if hypnotized. I regret my curiosity to this day. Within what seemed to be only an instant, there was blood everywhere.

Even at this late age, I still hear the lamb’s blood-curdling bleats.  

 

* Kurban Bayramı is the time of the “Feast of the Sacrifice” for practicing Muslims.

* Abdullah is a common Turkish male name.

* Amca describes a paternal uncle in Turkey. In this story, I use it in its popular context; namely, to refer to an endeared man of a familiar connection.

~ ~ ~ ~

This story is one of the 40 I had written in the form of autobiographical fiction in a book titled Once upon a Time in Turkey and published on November 15, 2022 with Inner Child Press International.

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