Maybe someone could translate this sometime.

It is a poem i have read a few times these week having heard of someone who tragically lost her husband 

IF I KNEW

If I knew it would be the last time
That I´d see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly
and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.

If I knew  it would be the last time
that I see you walk out the  door ,
I would give  you a hug and kiss
and call you back for one  more

If I knew  it would be the last time
I´d hear your voice lifted up in  praise,
I would  video tape each action and word,
so I could play them back day after  day.

If I knew  it would be the last time,
I could spare an extra  minute
to stop and  say ´I love you,´
instead of assuming you would KNOW I  do.

If I knew  it would be the last time
I would be there to share your  day,
Well I´m sure  you´ll have so many more,
so I can just let this one slip  away.

For  surely there´s always tomorrow
to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance
to make everything just right.

There will always be another day
to say ´I love  you,´
And certainly there´s another chance
to say our ´Anything I can do?´

But just  in case I might be wrong,
and today is all I get,
I´d like to say how much I love you
and I hope we never forget.

Tomorrow is not promised to  anyone,
young or old alike,
And today may be the last chance
you get to hold your loved one tight.

So if you´re waiting for tomorrow,
why not do it  today?
For if tomorrow never comes,
you´ll surely regret the day,

That you didn´t take that extra time
for a smile, a hug, or a kiss
and you were too busy to grant someone,
what turned out to be their one last wish.

So hold your loved ones close today,
and whisper in their ear,
Tell them how much you love them
and that you´ll always hold them dear

Take time to say ´I´m sorry,´
´Please forgive me, thank you,´ or ´It´s  okay.´
And if tomorrow never comes,
you´ll have no regrets about today.

wow a very poignant poem, it is so easy to forget these simple things.

 EÐER BILSEYDIM

Eðer bilseydim ki bu seni

son seyrediþim olacak uykuya dalarken,

Sana daha sýký sarýlýrdým,

ve dua ederdim Tanrýya, seni korumasý için

Eðer bilseydim ki bu seni

son görüþüm olacak kapýdan çýkarken,

Sana sarýlýp öperdim

ve sonra geri çaðýrýrdým, bir kez daha için

Eðer bilseydim ki bu senin sesini

son kez duyuþum olacaktý, övgüyle yükseldiðinde,

Her hareketini ve sözünü kaydederdim videoya 

gün be gün tekrar seyredebilmek için.

Eðer bilseydim ki bu son kez olacaktý,

Bir dakika daha harcardým,

durup, "seni seviyorum" demek için.

Senin zaten bildiðini varsaymak yerine.

Eðer bilseydim ki bu seninle

beraber geçirdigim son gün olacaktý;

Aslýnda eminim ki daha çok olacak önünde,

O yüzden izin verirdim bunun sessizce geçip gitmesine

Tabii ki yarýn her zaman olacak

kusurumuzu telafi etmek için,

ve her zaman ikinci bir þansimiz olacak,

herþeyi düzeltmek için.

Baþka bir gün her zaman olacak,

"seni seviyorum" demek için.

Ve elbette baþka bir þansýmýz daha olacak

söylemeye "Ne yapabilirim senin için"

Ama yanýlýyorsam þayet,

ve bugün son olacaksa,

seni ne kadar sevdiðimi söylemek istiyorum

ve bunu hiç unutmamak.

Yarýnýn kimseye taahhütü verilmemiþ,

Ne gencine ne yaþlýsýna,

Ve eðer yarýn hiç olmayacaksa,

piþman olacaksýn elbette ömür boyunca

Vakit ayýrmadýðýn için, bir gulumsemeye

sarýlmaya ve öpmeye,

ve çok meþgul olduðun için, birine yardým etmeye

son isteði olduðunu bilmeden.

Bunun için bugün sevdilerinize sýkýca sarýlýn,

ve kulaklarýna fýsýldayýn

onlarý ne çok sevdiðinizi,

ve sizin için hep deðerli olacaklarýni.

Vakit ayýrýn "Özür dilerim", "Lütfen beni affet",

"teþekkür ederim" ve "önemli deðil" demek için.

Ve yarýn olmazsa hiç,

Piþman olmayacaksýnýz bugün için.

Wow i didnt expect that to happen so quick.

Thank you so much, it really means alot to me.   

 I liked it a lot too.

Cheers

This easy-reading poem is emotional, but jsut from the fact that you imagine that you lose someone. Anyone can write such things. It´s not poetic at all. It just makes you cry, but in fact it´s empty and the things that have been already said a thousand of times. I started to hate all the things who just make you cry, a kind of emotion exploitation.  

Agreed, the art of kitsch has dominated this poetry forum. Everybody falls for obvious, non-sophisticated "I´m in pain because you left me" kinds of things or the old tune of "I love you" expressed in the same way it has been done million of times before...

 I get your point, especially considering all those kinds of posts we have seen before, but since when is writing literary (poetry) a requirement for a piece of writing to make a person feel something? I fidn that a rather elitair way of thinking.

And generally it´s the things that have been said a 1000 times that are a common feeling that everybody knows but then again, I myself prefer when things are written or said differently, even though they mean the same. And then just for the ´magic´ that I find in special usage of language as a medium.

DK, everybody may commit poems, but they´re not necessarily considered Poetry (with capital P)

Then there´s a matter of personal taste, I find some people considered great poets graphomaniacs Yet, I´m not an expert in poetry - I had just a course in it and hated it (the course, not poetry)

Now one of my favourite poetry came to my mind. It is from a Dutch poet, and I´m afraid I cant translate it with the same ´touch´ and stilistic forms as Ida Gerhardt has written it, but I still thought it was worth mentioning.

De Gestorvene

Zeven maal om de aarde te gaan,
als het zou moeten op handen en voeten;
zeven maal, om die éne te groeten
die daar lachend te wachten zou staan.
Zeven maal om de aarde te gaan.

Zeven maal over de zeeën te gaan,
schraal in de kleren, wat zou het mij deren,
kon ik uit de dood ik die éne doen keren.
Zeven maal over de zeeën te gaan-
zeven maal, om met zijn tweeën te staan.

----

The Departed

To go seven times around the earth,
if necessary on hands and feet;
seven times, to greet that one
who would be standing await with a smile.
To go seven times around the earth.

To go seven times over the seas,
threadbare clothes, what harm would that do me,
(if) could I bring back that one from the dead.
To go seven times over the seas,
seven times, to stand as two together.

 I wasn´t trying to say that was poetry. I think I specifically mentioned ´piece of writing´. Actually I don´t enjoy those kind of discussions about the concept of what is to be considered as real literature or literary prose, poetry etc, I tend to just divide between ´rhymes´ and ´poetry´

Yes. Couldn´t agree with that more, but I tend to like graphomaniacs as well on a different kind of level. I was merely saying that something doesnt need to be sophisticated or literary of highstyle to produce emotions in the human ´heart´, I tried to avoid a discussion about the essence of Poetry really (sorry had to write that with a capital )

 I complete agree with you Melty!  This is the kind of stuff you find in greetings cards - it is VERSE not poetry.

This, combined with those sick-making emails that circulate around telling you how special you are or "send this on to another strong beautiful woman" blah blah.... YUCK!

Discussion of the essence of (P)oetry brings back a poem by Andrzej Bursa (roughly translated by me in a hurry)

Discourse with a Poet

How to describe smell with poetry...

Definitely not by simple naming

but the whole poem must smell

and rhyme

and rythm

must have the temperature of a meadlike clearing

and each metrical shift

something of the scent of a rose

thrown over a fire

we talked in great symbiosis

until I said:

"please take away this bucket

as it smells of piss here"

it might have been tactless

but I couldn´t stand it anymore

Dyskurs z poetą

Jak oddać zapach w poezji...
na pewno nie przez proste nazwanie
ale cały wiersz musi pachnieć
i rym
i rytm
muszą mieć temperatury miodowej polany
a każdy przeskok rytmiczny
coś z powiewu róży
przerzuconej nad ogniem
rozmawialiśmy w jak najlepszej symbiozie
aż do chwili gdy powiedziałem:
"wynieś proszę to wiadro
bo potwornie tu śmierdzi szczyną"
możliwe że to było nietaktowne
ale już nie mogłem wytrzymać.

Whaha lovely Poem

Not to mention what will happen to your unique being if you decide NOT to send to at least another 10 (there are graduations ofcourse, from 10 onwards) strong and beautiful woman

+1

 ( I was going to say it reminded me of those kind of emails but I see you beat me to it!)

Translation to turkish as an exercise:

Caný Çýkan

Dünyaný yedi kez yürümek,

Zorundaysa sürünerek;

Yedi kez, onu görmek için,

O gülerek bekleyecek.

Dünyayý yedi kez yürümek.

Denizleri yedi kez aþmak,

Paçavra giymelisem boþ ver,

One geri getirebilirsem.

Denizleri yedi kez aþmak,

Yedi kez, baraber olmak için.

The feeling behind the poem dissapears in my translation though Can anybody give me some pointers?

MÜTEVEFFA / MERHUM

Dünyanýn çevresinde dolaþmak yedi kere;

gerekiyorsa eðer dört ayak üstünde,

tam yedi kere,  selamlamak için bekleyeni bir gülümsemeyle.

Dünyanýn çevresinde dolaþmak yedi kere.

Denizleri aþýp geçmek yedi kere,

tel tel olmuþ giysiler içinde, ne zararý dokunur kendime,

eðer onu getirebilirsem ölümden geriye.

Denizleri aþýp geçmek yedi kere,

tam yedi kere, yanyana durabilmek için seninle.

(I made up seninle)

Hehe it´s fun to read the Dutch version in English and Turkish too But I still think the Dutch version is the most beautiful one .

Oh and the poetry discussion.. I believe that ´good´ poetry indeed consists of a little more effort to find ´beautiful´ words. The poem that was to be translated is quite accessible to everyone though. I don´t think there isn´t anyone who didn´t feel something. There are also poems for which you need an hour just to figure out what the point is, and you still may not be right. I personally like them when you have someone who helps you find some references.. Else ´accessible´ poetry may be more effective .