wildscape. literary journal

A wish that we could make the same mistakes
by Ela Kumcuoglu

// All summer I wait for summer to end / all winter I wait for summer to come /
And seamlessness / was something I wanted to show you
In the sunlight stretched over the sky like a pyrophanous skin / draping itself
Over my neck like a mother’s hand /

I wanted to show you the intimacy of the sun blooming out of kilter through the river bed / the vestiges of old trees effervescing on the surface /
Sirens dancing / your heart /
/ making dreams out of clouds /
the yolk of life sticky in between your fingerprints /
Would you want to be the bird balancing the sky on the back of its wings? /
Put roots in the dreams they buried with their dead
And wait them to spring out in red poppies on a field of wet, winter dreams ? /
Would you chase the tail of summer like he does?

/ For him, summer is the changing
Winds tapping on his hands / with the same tenderness as a poem /
For him, summer is exodus / the flight of hands from heart to mouth
For me, summer is the stirring of an old battle / when close is not enough
The bitter taste of a not-quite resolution / tender epithets, nothing much to do or to be done
For you / winter is when you crave the touch of someone else / when you ask yourself
If loving someone is just liking someone a lot, or is it something else, something that can’t be defined?
For you, winter is hastily stripping the driveways of fresh memories that fell overnight
For me, it is the footsteps that tread behind you / and the doubt trailing through your fingers trailing through my fingers /
Wishing we could make the same mistakes //

about the author // Ela Kumcuoglu

Ela Kumcuoglu (she/her) is a previously unpublished poet and student living in London. She is originally from Türkiye and enjoys writing poetry in her free time. Her other interests include ballet, theatre and astronomy. She is a member of National Youth Theatre.

Instagram: @elab.egum