EPITAPH III

They put his gun in the cupboard.
They gave his clothes to someone else.
No bread crumbs in his bag now
No lip traces on his canteen.
Such a wind
That it blew
And not even a name remained behind.
Only his couplet remained
Above the stove
In the coffee shop,
Written by hand-
``Dying is the wish of God
If parting weren't in it.''




Orhan Veli
Translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat, 1989