Istanbul
by Ümit Yaşar Oğuzcan
A room in the house, Istanbul in the room
A mirror in the room, Istanbul in the mirror
The man lit his cigarette, an Istanbul smoke
The woman opened her purse, Istanbul in the purse
The child cast a fishing line, I saw,
And he started to draw it, Istanbul on the line
What kind of water is this, what kind of Istanbul
Istanbul in the bottle, Istanbul on the table
It walks with us, stops with us, we are puzzled
She is on one side, I am on the other, Istanbul in the middle
Once you fall in love, I understand
Wherever you go, there you see Istanbul.
PHOTO: Istanbul, Turkey, with Blue Mosque in foreground. Photo by Şahin Sezer Dinçer, used by permission.
NOTE: Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, is an Ottoman-era mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. A functioning mosque, it also attracts large numbers of tourist visitors. Constructed between 1609 and 1616, Hand-painted blue tiles adorn the mosque’s interior walls, and at night the mosque is bathed in blue as lights frame the mosque’s five main domes, six minarets, and eight secondary domes.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ümit Yaşar Oğuzcan (1926-1984) was a Turkish poet. His first poem was published while he was still a student. His first poetry book appeared in 1947., when he was 21. In total he has published 33 books of poetry.
POETRY and PLACES 