hobnobwithhedgehogs

Little chicken and I walk hand-in-hand while a short stranger hangs on my words and my lips; his breath all garlic and his eyebrows meeting, Merhaba. Merhaba. The machine sings loudly to call us to prayer but no one prostrates and no one wails. Eyüp begs me to meet him again, Merhaba. Merhaba. His palm meets my thigh but I brush it away men give me fake mugs and a tailless cat-- they're 23, 24...and I'm çok tatlı, so sweet. Merhaba. Merhaba. And Mehmo dives headlong off the cliff his back meets the Aegean in a breaking embrace. His mother tells me how to say goodnight, Merhaba. Merhaba. While ruins still litter the countr

Bloody Blood drips from my nose; papier-mâché ceiling tiles have visible scars. I try to stand up and blood flows back down my throat; I almost like it. They ask where you are. "My parents left on a plane; a scar in the sky." --- Brown Bag She sits on a bench, her sandwich in a brown bag, alone and untouched. --- Campus in Spring The barefoot girl missed places she hadn't left yet-- gleaming stars, soft grass. --- Conversations We sit close, whisper: "There is no light without dark, no yin without yang. Pain lets us feel joy." "Do you really believe that?" "No," I say. "I don't."