Ali Bilir: from Migration Ballads

The Great Horn

Is the ticking
of a smiling clock
the heartbeats
of time
alas, the blowing one day
of Israfil
through the Great Horn,
his moldy breath?

* Israfil (or Israafiyl or Raphael). According to the Hadith, Israfil is the Angel responsible for signaling the coming of Judgment Day by blowing a horn and sending out a Blast of Truth. It translates to Hebrew as Raphael. The blowing of the trumpet is described in many places in Quran. It is said that the first blow will destroy everything [Qur'an 69:13], while the second blow will bring all human beings back to life again [Qur'an 36:51].



A Child

Racing through vineyards
the child throws a stone
as far as he is able
searching for a remote God.

In an immaculate shirt
of pigeon wings
the child searches for
the whitest white
in the petals of a
mountain-ash blossom.

Gulnar, June’94


The First Time I Saw The Sea

Mother, wrapped in rags,
swinging in a hammock
rocking me to sleep,
singing lullabies
beneath a cedar tree until

I ran down stony paths
hoisting on my shoulders
the past and the future,
hope and sorrow.

I still remember
how I cried for joy
the first time I saw the sea,
kissed the clouds
as I rode along
in a blue-bodied truck.

I have kept inside me
for many years
that sea,
it’s salty tears.


June ’94

Poems © Ali Bilir, 2008 or as dated, from Migration Ballads — A Poet's Journey,
forthcoming from Plain View Press, Spring 08, made possible
by a TEDA grant from the Turkish Ministry of Culture.

Translated by Ali M. Sulutas, poetic editing in English
by Susan Bright.


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