Neşe Yaşın is a poet born in 1959 in Nicosia. She is well known and read on both sides of divided Cyprus. She is currently teaching language and literature at the Turkish Studies Department of University of Cyprus, writing weekly columns for Yenidüzen newspaper (Cyprus).
She has published nine volumes of poetry, a novel and a research book. Her poetry has been translated to more than 38 languages, published in literary magazines and anthologies in several countries. Her selected poems have been published as books in English and in Greek. She has participated in poetry festivals and readings around the world. Among others she has received the Anthias Pierides Award in 1998, Pierides award 2020 and European Citizens Prize in 2021.
Wet branches of dreams
a fluttering sparrow
shivering inner voice
of wounded childhood
In my garden the ripple of water
in my soul the lilies of sadness
My shadow and I
dance together
against expectant death
I’m the fearful sound
of the painful dark
the lamb sacrificed to gratitude
the thin crying voice
I’m the ballerina on the music box
whirling in release
I’m the autumn leaf afloat on water
a night of curfew
beholding absence
in the mirror of sorrow
I’m the slender light
on the curved lip
of a wounded illusion
A broken dream’s
passage through time
fullness of
the moon bleeding
A fleeting shudder
above the graves
the weeping of an angel lost
A quiet flower in the valley
where melancholy offers a kiss
a passion
drip
drip
drops
on loneliness
© Translation: Clifford Erdness
Published with the permission of Neşe Yaşın