Magic Words

Because of you Because of you, each day is a melon slice                        smelling sweetly of earth. Because of you, all fruits reach out to me                        as if I were the sun. Thanks to you, I live on the honey of hope. You are the reason my heart beats. Because of you, even my loneliest nights        smile like an Anatolian kilim on your wall. Should my journey end before I reach my city,        I’ve rested in a rose garden thanks to you. Because of you I don’t let death enter,        clothed in the softest garments and knocking on my door with songs        calling me to the greatest peace. Nâzım Hikmet, 1960 English translation by Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk

Hikmet’s gravestone at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia, is still today a place of pilgrimage and devotion for people from all over the world. Photo: fiyonk14.