EPITAPH II

``To be or not to be''
Wasn't his business.
He went to bed one night.
He didn't wake up.
They came and carried him away.
He was washed, prayed for, and buried.
If the creditors hear
Of his death,
They'll surely cancel his debts,
As for the money owed to him...
Nobody owed him anything,
Poor man.




Orhan Veli
Translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat, 1989