Mahmud, The Loafer

by Orhan Veli


All I do is this;
I paint the sky every morning
While you are asleep.
You get up and see it's blue.

The sea is ripped occasionally.
You don't know who sews it back.
I do.

I fool around from time to time too.
This is also my job.
I think of a head in my head.
I think of a stomach in my stomach.
I think of a foot in my foot.
I don't know what the hell to do.


Translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat, 1989