WEEPING MOTHER

The war's over, they said,
those on the front have returned.
I ran to Sarayönü
I asked Dikilitas* about you,
'Haven't seen him', it said.

I ran after the crying child
I passed the burning house
I found a little dead goat
I asked about you, my son.

I asked the almond tree
I asked the cicada
'Haven't seen him' they said.

I looked along the roads, I cried
I cried and cried.

I asked the war about you
I asked the flowing blood
        the soil, the ants.

I sang the songs you loved
showed your photographs
he was just seventeen, I said,
'I haven't seen him, haven't seen him,
                     haven't seen him...'

I looked at the war, I cried
I cried and cried.

Tanks passed by our door
       you never passed
prisoners passed
and days and months
       but never you.

I waited, listened, waited
I watched for your return, my son.

I have only a photograph left
lorries carried the dead
the radio played victory marches.
No one had seen you,
no one.

I looked at Nicosia, I cried
I cried and cried.

		* Monument, obelisk in Sarayönü, the centre of Nicosia.
		(Translator's note.)