For You

For you, my human brothers,

everything is for you;

night is for you, and day is too;

daylight for you, moonlight for you;

in the moonlight, the leaves;

in the leaves, wonder;

in the leaves, thought;

in the sunlight, a thousand shades of green;

yellows for you, and pinks as well;

the touch of skin against the palm,

its warmth,

its softness;

the ease of rest;

greetings are for you;

for you, the masts swaying in the harbor;

the names of days,

the names of months,

the colors on the boats, for you;

for you, the postman’s step,

the potter’s hand;

the sweat streaming down foreheads,

the bullets spent at the front;

for you, the graves, the gravestones,

the prisons, the shackles, the death sentences;

for you;

everything is for you. 

Orhan Veli Kanik