If The Sisters of Mercy and Joy Division eloped to Turkey, She Past Away would be their lovechild. For those of us who came of age in Montreal’s dimly lit sanctuaries like Passeport and Saphir, this band is muscle memory, equal parts black eyeliner and existential dread, and it brings us back to nights under red lights, wrapped in fog, where the bassline thrummed like a pulse beneath the skin, and the dance floor was the only place we belonged. Those nights are long behind me now, but hearing She Past Away’s post-punk sounds in my father tongue feels like a homecoming. They’re the Turkish goth representation I didn’t have growing up but always yearned for—a reminder that some things, like longing and minor keys, cross every border and only get better with age.
— Meryem Yildiz is a poet from Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) whose work has appeared in publications across Canada. In 2022, she won The Malahat Review’s Far Horizons Award for Poetry as well as the Quebec Writers’ Federation’s carte blanche Prize. Her debut collection, Backbone, will be published by Guernica Editions in 2025.
You can read Meryem Yildiz's poem "Tethered" in Issue 303 (Spring 2025). Order the issue now:
Order Issue 303 - Spring 2025 (Canadian Addresses)
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