we versus death

nazim hikmet-on death again

My spouse,
my soul and essence
Hatiché Pirayendé,
I’m thinking about death,
it means arteriosclerosis
begins in me... -
One day
as it snows,
or
one night,
or
in the heat of one noon
which of us first,
how
and where we shall die?
How
and what will be
the last sound or the colour
the one dying hears or sees,
the first movement of the one left behind,
the first words
the first meal?
Maybe we shall die far apart.
The news
will come in screams,
or they will just allude,
and leave alone
the one left behind...
And the one left behind
will be lost in the crowd.
It means, master, it is life...
And all these possibilities
in what year of the 1900’s
which month
which day
what hour
My spouse,
my soul and essence
Hatiché Pirayendé,
I’m thinking about death,
about our life passing.
I’m sad
at ease
and haughty.
Which of us first,
how
and wherever we die,
you and I
loved each other
and the greatest cause of human beings
– we fought for it –
we can say
“We lived.”