An Unceasing Wound in My Heart

Erzurum’s winter never ends, never fades,

Snow falls thick and heavy, leaving no trace.

In exile, longing knows no rest,

A fire burns in my heart, never to be put to rest.

Palandöken shrouded in smoke, its peak buried in snow and storm,

Is there none to ask of my plight?

I am a stranger here, my state undone,

You turned my heart’s palace into ruin.

Like Majnun, I fell upon dusty roads,

I sent word to the morning winds.

They said a bride has been claimed by another’s hand,

Your name now echoes from lip to lip.

I stopped at Çifte Minareli and wept,

My tears became a flood, I cried aloud.

I heard you have bound a ring upon her hand,

You have sealed my fate with darkness.

I burned and consumed myself with longing,

I gave my life for your love.

Were you not my beloved, but another’s?

Erzurum is my witness: I perished in you.