They’ve taken us prisoner,
they’ve locked us up :
me inside the walls,
you outside.
But that’s nothing.
The worst
is when people - knowingly or not -
carry prison inside themselves…
Most people have been forced to do this,
honest, hard-working, good people
who deserve to be loved as much as I love you…
tr. by Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk
by Nazim Hikmet
Things I Didn’t Know I Loved
it’s 1962 March 28th
I’m sitting by the window on the Prague-Berlin train
night is falling
I never knew I liked
night descending like a tired bird on a smoky wet plain
I don’t like
comparing nightfall to a tired bird
I didn’t know I loved the earth
can someone who hasn’t worked the earth love it
I’ve never worked the earth
it must be my only Platonic love
(more…)