Hide Me In Your Heart Poem by Leman J Koc

I wasn't born in your high mountains
I didn't drink from the Koban waters
Can people miss somewhere they've never seen?
I've missed you since I was born
Like my father who's crossed over to the other world,
-never to return...

I wasn't exiled from my country, no one attacked me
No one drove me out, I wasn't held captive
I wasn't far separated from my mom,
So, why do I cry when I hear the song of those exiled
My heart strings broken, like severed veins.

I didn't learn how to read Arabic
How could I know how to write in my mother tongue, in Cyrillic,
I realize now
It's futile to write your 'iynar's in another language
I am crying for my Syrian kin, Kochar
Who cannot understand me in three languages

I am not in my homeland, nor my birthplace
And still I live amongst many nationalities,
Spanish, Chinese, English, they speak in every language,
I've read and of course written in the Turkish language,
But none of them touch my heart like my mother tongue

My roots belong to you, no matter where I was born or grew up
You are my homeland, even if I am far away
I am your leaf, I've blossomed without withering,
In the depths of my soul, I caressed you like my father,
Bury me in your heart, even if I die far away