Poetry | ‘working overtime’, ‘where I came from’ – Ozan Zakariya Keskinkılıç

working overtime

at full moon
i turn into a bedtime story
dancing dabke[1] on closed eyes
a black haired lullaby working overtime
to uncover blended memories
heavy and complex with a full body
in distant coffee dregs

where i came from

on the back of my blanket
i see a paper storm
galvanizing the displaced
i see baba’s[2] carpet frayed
and a last word wriggling on each cord
i hear a phone call rolling characters off every leaf
like dancing pocket change in dede’s[3]

barber shop
and i fall back on His lips
to where i really came from

Glossary
1 levantine folk dance
2 father (tr)
3 grandfather (tr)

Ozan Zakariya Keskinkılıç is a freelance writer, poet and lecturer living in Berlin.

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