You Are Not Aware Of This

Nazım Hikmet is one of the most great poets of Turkey. In one of his poems, he says he is a walnut tree with one hundred thousand leaves. Here is the poem:

The Walnut Tree

My head a foam of clouds, the sea inside and outside of me,

I am a walnut tree at Gulhane Park,

an old walnut, knot by knot, shred by shred.

Neither you are aware of this, nor the police.

I am a walnut tree at Gulhane Park.

My leaves are nimble, nimble like fish in water.

My leaves are sheer, sheer like a silk handkerchief,

pick one, wipe, my rose, the tear from your eyes.

My leaves are my hands, I have one hundred thousand hands.

I touch you, İstanbul, with one hundred thousand hands.

My leaves are my eyes, I look in amazement.

I watch you, İstanbul, with one hundred thousand eyes.

Like one hundred thousand hearts, beat, beat my leaves.

I am a walnut tree at Gulhane Park.

Neither you are aware of this, nor the police.

Why would a poet think he is a walnut tree?

The rumor is, Nazim Hikmet was sitting under a walnut tree at Gulhane Park waiting for his sweetheart to arrive, when suddenly the police came instead. In those days, Hikmet was on the top of the most wanted list. He found the solution in climbing up the tree and while he was waiting for the police to leave the park, his sweetheart arrived. The desperate poet could not call out for his date because of the police. So he took out his notebook and started to write the Walnut Tree poem explaining his situation, articulately showing us how a massive tree does not draw anyone’s attention.

Until two months ago, trees at Gezi Park were the same as Hikmet’s trees – old, with lots of leaves newly sprout in spring, with thousands of branches, all of which neither us nor the police was aware of – until they were intended to be cut down inorder to build a shopping mall in the same area. Today people all over the world are aware of them, and, people all around Turkey, with a diversity of political views, religions, ethnic backgrounds, took the streets.

The trees are watching us with thousands of eyes, aghasted and amazed. Their leaves are shuffling with one hundred thousand heart beats. They are happy, because people did not prefer shopping malls over them. Just like Nazim Hikmet had wished that his love would see him up the walnut tree and not the police, today trees at Gezi Park want the same thing. They do not want the police, public intervention vehicles or construction machines pulling them down at Gezi Park. Let the people never forget their green again; let them come to feel their cool breeze in the hot summer days , take a breath from the hectic traffic outside, soothing their souls under their shadows, and let many other Nazim Hikmets sit under them with their sweethearts.

They say “it’s just a few trees”, pieces of wood after all; just because we do not want them damaged, should we damage the economy they say. Yes, if neccessary we should; we accede to this risk. Many of those trees are older than us, they have witnessed to much more than us. Let’s not pluck their gauzy trembling leaves to wipe our tears; let’s wipe the dust, the gas remnants on them this time. Lets go and find the blameless Nazim Hikmet up the tree, and protect his innocence.