FATIMA ALIBHAI
Paired With: Turhan Michael Ergin
Turhan Ergin
The first thing I realized about Turhan Ergin was the sheer enthusiasm he had for living life to the fullest. Secondly, the similarity struck out to me: he wasn't a writing major, but I could tell from his work that he couldn't help but write, that he derived joy from it the same way I did, and that he did it for the sake of doing it. It’s a rare feeling when you read something by a person long gone and feel less alone, and reading his work made me feel as if he was right next to me, picking out things he could have done better. I was terrified of writing about him, perhaps because adequately representing another soul in words is a task worthy of Sisyphus. I also found myself heartbroken over the nature of loss before its time, and I was unable to find feelings to counter that grief. The letter was the cure: a conversation between Turhan and I that allowed me to address the anguish of stolen youth and the recklessness of being young. The next day, I wrote the poem as a means of reminding my new friend that no one is ever really gone."