A poet is also like a lamp;

If it is not hung up, it does not give light.

But the gallows stool

Is under the feet of the one who hangs him.

Stools are very strange four-legged things.

Bahtiyar Hidayet, born in 1974 in the Gazakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan, graduated from university in 1995 and has been working as a history teacher since 1998. Wrote poetry since high school and has 4 poetry books published in Azerbaijan.

The Poet’s Heart

The heart of a true poet

Is like an electricity meter;

If it is not loaded, it stops.

A poet is also like a lamp;

If it is not hung up, it does not give light.

But the gallows stool

Is under the feet of the one who hangs him.

Stools are very strange four-legged things.

They are more faithful than two-legged beings and four-legged creatures.

We sit on them to rest,

And we also lean our shoulders against them.

There is no human left to lean your shoulders on anymore.

But still,

Stools are also very unfaithful.

When we are hanged, they run away from under our feet.

We fall into eternal darkness.

And such eternal darkness

Is better than this world.

Because now the source of light

Is not enlightened people.

Now the source of light

Is police cars.

Can the poet’s heart endure this?

__________________

Read: Shakira’s Pictures – Poetry from Azerbaijan