RUMORS

Who says
I've fallen for Suheyla?
Who saw me, who
Kissing Eleni
On the sidewalk in the middle of the day?
And they say I took Melahat
To Alamdar,
Is that so?
I'll tell you about it later,
But whose knee did I squeeze on the streetcar?
Supposedly, I've developed a taste for the fleshpots of Galata.
I drink, get drunk,
Then take myself there.
Forget about all these, guys,
Forget, forget about them.
I know what I'm doing.

And what about me
Supposedly putting Mualla on a rowboat
And making her sing out loud, ``My soul is yearning for you...''
In the middle of the harbor?




Orhan Veli
Translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat, 1989