I Want To Die Before You by Nazim Hikmet

I Want To Die Before You

I 

want to die before you. 

Do you think that who passes later 

will find who's gone before? 

I don't think so. 

You'd better have me burned, 

and put me on the stove in your room 

in a jar. 

The jar shall be made of glass, 

transparent, white glass 

so that you can see me inside... 

You see my sacrifice: 

I renounced from being part of the earth, 

I renounced from being a flower 

to be able to stay with you. 

And I am becoming dust, 

to live with you. 

Later, when you also die, 

you'll come to my jar. 

And we'll live there together 

your ash in my ash, 

until a careless bride 

or an unfaithful grandson 

throws us out of there... 

But we 

until that time 

will mix 

with each other 

so much that 

even in the garbage we are thrown into 

our grains will fall side by side. 

We will dive into the soil together. 

And one day, if a wild flower 

feeds from this piece of soil and blossoms 

above its body, definitely 

there will be two flowers: 

one is you 

one is me. 

I 

don't think of death yet. 

I will give birth to a child. 

Life is flooding from me. 

My blood is boiling. 

I will live, but long, very long, 

but with you. 

Death doesn't scare me either. 

But I find our way of funeral 

rather unlikable. 

Until I die, 

I think this will get better. 

Is there a hope you'll get out of prison these days? 

A voice in me says: 

maybe.

(Translated by Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk)