HUNTING SEASON – Binnaz Deniz Yildiz

June 26, 2026

I left everything, in the texture of the leaf… A discreet fog in the darkness—images…

Like a pocket watch, the history of Mars was purified water in my hands

I caught seasonal flowers red-handed in their crimson sleep

I left everything, everything, my twin on a table… A Protestant priest, chained to my ears

Announced Adam—a muffled echo—Adam moments!—the motionless sea in his heart

I turned bloody grapes into wine with my aching legs, I swallowed the philosopher’s stone

On the devil’s island of the fiery swing. And Diderot was the cut of my mouth from the ball

I left everything… Nazım walking on tiptoe…

Matisse’s toy coffin… Fuzuli’s wine bottle on my lips…

 God gave me the alphabet

He blindfolded me. “You are a tin soldier, naughty boy, dark face!”

Heavy penal laws… The gurgling sound froze in my eyes, the lodge of sound

God gave me his alphabet!

Dostoevsky walks through a labyrinth, opening his arms, I fall from that madman’s embrace

Hyena knife… Beaten on the rooftops of houses

I held my skin in the middle of a chained clock

Dracula lies in wait, licking my blood! BREAK, OVERTURN, DESTROY the statue in my heart!

NOW IS HUNTING SEASON!

 

 

Nazım Hikmet: He is the revolutionary architect of modern Turkish poetry, known for introducing free verse and infusing lyrical intensity with political consciousness. His work epitomizes the resilience of the human spirit and the relentless quest for freedom, navigating the tension between individual experience and the collective struggle.

Fuzuli: He is the preeminent master of classical Ottoman literature, revered for his profound explorations of love, longing, and existential melancholy. His mastery lies in the “alchemy of pain,” where he elevates human suffering into a transcendental, intellectual inquiry, bridging the gap between worldly desire and the divine.