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Ceyhun Mahi Aug 2020
I saw a girl who's winsome face was bright,
    Next to me a fleeting presence like smoke,
Her eyes were dreamy like a balmy night,
    She smiled and laughed, although there was no joke.
She was so beautiful, but did not know;
    I saw the empty sadness in her eyes,
Like a wind towards the stars she did blow,
    Forever high, like missing butterflies.
So sad, but still nothing could beat her charms,
    A silliness – from fear she was not fleeing –
She looked me in the eyes, opened her arms,
    And suddenly embraced my broken being.
Three seconds warm, and she let go – apart –
Yet it lasted much longer in my heart.
Ceyhun Mahi Aug 2020
ز عشق تو پریشان کرد مرا ای ساقی مجلس
شراب ‏سون چارە بوندەدر ‏كە ‏سن اولمە غافل ها

چرا این شوق ارباب دلا هرگز ندیدم من
بر آتش ‏گبی كول أگلەین شو عشقن ‏سوزی مشكل ها
The first verses of each couplet are in Farsi, the second verses in Turkish. Indeed, Turkish used to be written with the Islamic alphabet once in history. I hope I could capture the ectasy of Hafez.

Meaning:

From your love I have become distressed, O cupbearer of this meeting!
Give me (heavenly) wine because the solution lies in this, don't be heedless!

What is this (earthly) joy o masters of the heart? I haven't seen it (because)
This word of love, who like a fire turns wood to ashes, is very hard to bear!
Ceyhun Mahi May 2020
I don't know who you are, or where you are,
But something in my heart tells me that you
Are waiting somewhere safe, beneath the stars,
Also seeking, having no single clue.
Maybe I saw you in the sea of crowds,
And smelled the scent of mystery,
Passing me by so quietly like clouds,
Continuing my path upon the sea.
Maybe you are a friend, a wife or mentor,
Or maybe both; It is ungraspable,
To know the future now. I will explore
Everything for now that is practical.
    And so I'll live, from all suspicions free,
    Whoever and where my soulmate may be.
Ceyhun Mahi May 2020
The times of existential angst are done,
And so are times of reckless assumptions,
Pretentiousness of insecurities gone,
Along the astray ways, and their seductions.
I have become twenty-two, and my eyes
See differently; no darkness anymore,
They're open wide like rosy morning-skies,
With a steady gaze, brighter than before.
But I don't claim to know it all, no – never,
For I surely know that I do not know,
Seeking meanings with all my heart forever,
Making me human, and making me grow.
    There is much left to see, and learn, and sing,
    I'm curious; let's see what fate will bring.
Ceyhun Mahi Mar 2020
O soul of mine, O sufferer of sadness,
    Leave all the pills, believe in yourself,
I'm sure you can withstand the drowning madness,
    Leave them for a day on the wooden shelf.
Be strong; you are a Poet after all,
    A sorcerer of words who's rarely seen,
Even then, glorious will be your fall,
    For you'll achieve a state who's pure and clean.
No medication anymore, no more!
    Step out the door, behold chaotic moves.
What has the world today for you in store?
    You do enjoy the rush, excitement proves.
It's so easy to say these words, but still
I can't go on a day without a pill.
I find that I have handled the volta perfectly in this sonnet.
Ceyhun Mahi Mar 2020
گفتم چرا این جلوه و ناز
گفت زیرا خواهید کرد نیاز
My first couplet in Farsi. I hope it makes sense!
Ceyhun Mahi Dec 2019
The colorful tears of youth are the warmest,
The most lonely in a world you don't know,
Because you haven't been here for the longest
Time since birth, step by step we all did grow.

We're always struck by our uncertain stars,
While still opening up, trying to find
The answers of this life, with smiles and scars,
Praying in different ways they stay aligned.

O God, forgive the flowers of this world!
We are so young, and thus so flawed,
Forgive our faults; our cheeks are pearled,
While we're always by Your creation awed.

Let us all strive our best to reach our goal,
Before we're one day called back with our soul.
Youth means learning things for the first time, that can be hard at times.
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