Poem Forty-Four
When well-wishers say “May God save you!” it hurts me,
The Warden visits: “May God save you!”
The DA visits: “May God save you!”
The guard comes in: “May God save you!”
God knows we are done for, getting saved
by God over and over again day in day out.
In reality, didn’t we fall by the wayside
In order to save God
From the trouble of saving people?
Translated from the Turkish by Talāt Sait Halman.
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