Mel Kenne is the author of six books of poetry. His most recent collection, Take, was published in 2012 by Muse-Pie Press. In 2010 Yapi Kredi Publishers in Istanbul published a bilingual collection of his poetry, Galata'dan / The View from Galata, in Turkish and English. His second book, South Wind, won the 1984 Austin Book Award. In 2010 he was one of the Nazim Hikmet Poetry Award winners. He lives in Istanbul, Turkey.

Mel Kenne

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The Taoist's Lament in Springtime

The work goes well
but I feel like hell.

I say things
that I shouldn't say.

Oh the sickness at heart
of desire gone stale

and the way that contradicts
The Way.