doggy-style dowry:
unable to face the nose
she paid through


A little bit of Turkish: Burun (Nose)
Kılavuzu karga olanın burnu boktan çıkmaz.
If your guided by crows you'll end up with your nose in shit.

Kupa Ası (Ace of Cups)
A little bit of Turkish: Sirke (vinegar) Bal (Honey) Sinek (Fly, the suit of Clubs in a pack of french suited playing cards) Kupa (Cup, Goblet, Trophy; the suit of Hearts in a pack of french suited playing cards)

Bir fıçı sirkeden ziyade bir damla bal ile sinek tutulur. 
One drop of honey is worth more than a vat of of vinegar to catch a fly.


The image of the Ace of Cups above is from a 1910 pack of tarot cards produced by Pamela Colman Smith for Arthur Edward Waite. For a modern reproduction I recommend the Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set.

Para Onlusu (Ten of Coins/Money)
A little bit of Turkish: Mutluluk (Happiness, Well-being, Bliss) Zenginlik (Wealth, Prosperity, Riches) Aptal (Fool, Stupid, Idiot, Dumb) Rüyalar (Dreams) Bilge (Wise, Sage)

Zenginlik aptal rüyalar; Bilge bir adam, mutluluk.
A fool dreams of wealth; a wise man of happiness.


An alternative name for the Ten of Coins in Turkish:
Tılsımlar Onlusus - Ten of Talismans
The term 'tılsımlar' (talismans) is used on some RWS decks (and its clones) as a translation of 'pentacles'.


The image of the Ten of Pentacles above is from a 1910 pack of tarot cards produced by Pamela Colman Smith for Arthur Edward Waite. For a modern reproduction I recommend the Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set.

A little bit of Turkish: Taş (Stone) Baş (Head) Yarmak (to split)

Her taş, baş yarmaz.
Not every stone will split your head.


The image of The Tower above is from a 1910 pack of tarot cards produced by Pamela Colman Smith for Arthur Edward Waite. For a modern reproduction I recommend the Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set.

A little bit of Turkish: Yeni (New) Dost (Friend) Şarap (Wine) Eski (Old)

Her şeyin yenisi, dostun, şarabın eskisi.
Everything is good when new, but old friends and wine are best.


The image of Temperance above is from a 1910 pack of tarot cards produced by Pamela Colman Smith for Arthur Edward Waite. For a modern reproduction I recommend the Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set.

A little bit of Turkish: Cami (Mosque) Imam (Islamic spiritual and temporal leader; Islamic scholar; one who leads prayers at Islamic gatherings) Bilmek (to know) Okur (Reader)

Cami ne kadar büyük olsa imam bildiğini okur.
However big the congregation, the reader tells the same story.*
Turkish Proverb


*lit. '...mosque, the imam reads what he knows.'


The image of The High Priestess above is from a 1910 pack of tarot cards produced by Pamela Colman Smith for Arthur Edward Waite. For a modern reproduction I recommend the Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set.

A little bit of Turkish: Deli (Fool, Lunatic, Devotee) Gün (Day) Bayram (Holiday)

Deliye her gün bayram.

Every day is a holiday for a fool.

The image of The Fool above is from a 1910 pack of tarot cards produced by Pamela Colman Smith for Arthur Edward Waite. For a modern reproduction I recommend the Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set.

Deli | Ölüm ~ Fool | Death

A little bit of Turkish: Hoşlanmak (to like, be pleased with, enjoy)

Deli deliden hoşlanır, imam ölüden.

The fool is pleased with a fool, the imam with a dead person.
Turkish Proverb

The images here are from the Tarot de Marseille style Imperatrix Tarot by F. J. Campos - one of the many decks that are included in the Orphalese Tarot program.

twenty-five thousand dollar portraits

My hustler is a plastic whore
Waits on the couch for night to fall,
Anticipates the morning flesh
The need, the rush, the sticky mess.


My cowboy lives on campbells soup
And for a treat an oxo cube,
His p-stained silks I sell as prints;
They sell real well the more they stink.


My camera films him while he sleeps;
His portrait fills the screen-filled wall.
I watch the people watching watch
His eyelids dance to unseen dreams.


My killer wants her fifteen minutes,
She doesn't like to be unnamed.
A voice from fame's low altar says,
"This moment shall be infinite."


My body, bloodied, bullet torn,
Waits on the floor for death to call;
Anticipates the mourning flesh,
the loss of touch, taste, sound and stench.


My sight, the light undimmed caressed;
My star unset maintained its rise.
My life reborn the heavens blessed;
The moon, the sun, became my eyes.


My wigs, my scars, my pallid hues,
My small editions, mass produced;
Judge with grace my worldly views
And wave by buying my snakeskin shoes.





A little bit of Turkish: Yiğit (brave, hero, stalwart)
Her  yiğidin bir yoğurt yiyişi vardır.
Each brave eats yoghurt in his own way.
Turkish Proverb

Asılan Adam (Hanged Man)

A little bit of Turkish: Ağaç (Tree) Meyve (Fruit) Taş (Stone)


Meyve veren ağaç taşlanir.


The fruit-bearing tree gets stoned.
Turkish Proverb


The image on the left is from a 1910 pack of tarot cards produced by Pamela Colman Smith for Arthur Edward Waite. For a modern reproduction I recommend the Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set.

Tılsımlar Uşağı - (The Servant of Talismans)

A little bit of Turkish: Para (Money) Kul (Servant, Slave, Man (as creature in relation to God), Devotee) 

The image on the left is from a 1910 pack of tarot cards produced by Pamela Colman Smith for Arthur Edward Waite. For a modern reproduction I recommend the Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set.

Varsa pulun olurum kulun; yoksa pulun kapidir yolun.

If you have money*, I am your devoted servant; if not, there's the gate to the road.
Turkish Proverb
*pul : lit. stamp, small round disc.




Other names for Page of Coins in Turkish:
Para Prensi - Prince of Money


Please feel free to use the comments to add your own reflections upon this card and how it may be read.

Kılıçlar'ın Dokuzu (nine of swords)

A little bit of Turkish: Kılıç (sword) Dokuz (nine)

Doğru söyleyeni dokuz köyden kovarlar.

Speak the truth, and be dismissed from nine villages.
Turkish Proverb


The image on the left is from a 1910 pack of the Tarot cards produced by Pamela Colman Smith and Arthur Edward Waite. For a modern reproduction I recommend the Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set

Please feel free to use the comments to add your own reflections upon this card and how it may be read.

Kampuchean kids

Kampuchean kids
harvesting pastoral dreams
migrate down the road
engraved by carpet-bombing
red carpet to the country

First published in Simply Haiku, Winter 2011:

http://simplyhaiku.webs.com/

A little bit of Turkish: köy (Village) -den (suffix meaning 'from')
Doğru söyleyeni dokuz köyden kovarlar.
Speak the truth, and be dismissed from nine villages.
-ye (suffix meaning 'to')
A'dan Z'ye (lit. A from Z to)
From A to Z.

Triumphant Sun

the sun
rose triumphant
bright jealous enemy
of stars night's canopy of gods
outshone


A little bit of Turkish:  Güneş (Sun)
Güneşte yanmayan gölgenin kıymetini bilmez.
Who has never been burnt in the sun, does not know the value of shadow.

I count honeybees

I count honeybees
the curves of snails and seashells
pine cones and cacti
as numbers turn to spirals
I dervish dance the silence


First published in Simply Haiku, Winter 2011:
http://simplyhaiku.webs.com/


A little bit of Turkish: Derviş (Dervish)
Dervişin fikri neyse zikri de odur.
Whatever the dervish thinks, he mentions.
(fikir, -kri = thought, idea, opinion, mind; zikir, -kri = 1.mention; 2. devil worship ceremony).