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The Walnut Tree |
My head is a foaming cloud, |
inside and outside I'm the sea. |
I am a walnut tree in gulhane Park in Istanbul, |
an old walnut tree with knots and scars. |
You don't know this and the police don't either. |
I am a walnut tree in Gulhane Park, |
My leaves sparkle like a fish in water, |
my leaves flutter like silk handkerchiefs. |
Break one off, my darling, and wipe your tears. |
My leaves are my hands - |
I have a hundred thousand hands. |
Istanbul I touch you |
with a hundred thousand hands. |
My leaves are my eyes, |
and I am shocked at what I see. |
I look at you, Istanbul, |
with a hundred thousand eyes |
and my leaves beat, |
beat with a hundred thousand hearts. |
I am a walnut tree in Gulhane Park. |
you don't know this and the police don't either. |
(July 1, 1957) |
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