Children wake in the night,
They search for something in the dark.
Women wake in the night,
They fiddle with their rings in the dark.
In the night cats wake,
They stare at us in the dark.
translated by Sidney Wade & Efe Murad
20th Century Turkish poetry
Ego by Özdemir Asaf
The last glass has been drained
The last word has been spoken
Some thought embraced each one of us.
Some remembrance
Some urge
Some jealousy
Some delusion
Some friendly deed
Some confusion
Some grudge
Some fine hope
Something. . .
Common to mankind.
translated b y Jean Carpenter Efe
Remembrance by Melih Cevdet Anday
Should a pair of doves take wing
Should a smoldering scent in the pinks be perceptible
It isn’t–is it–something all that memorable
It just suddenly comes to my mind
The day must have been just about to begin
You, like the others, about to arise
You may still well have been sleepless
That night of yours comes to my mind
Like the names of the flowers I love
Like the names of the streets that I love
Just like the names of all those whom I love
Your names come into my mind
So the comfortable bed shames itself perhaps
So a passionate kiss finds my thoughts in a lapse
As the touch of those fingers of yours through the gaps
In that metal grating comes to my mind
How many loves and friendships I have seen
Heroic deeds abounding in the tales of history
What’s most attune to the present though, is the dignity
Of your composure that always strikes my mind
Should a pair of doves take wing
Should a smoldering scent in the pinks be perceptible
It isn’t–is it–something that’s forgettable
Of itself it comes into my mind
translated by Jean Carpenter Efe
What Is Left by Hüseyin Yurttaş
what is left
of the streets I thundered through like a raging wind
of my youthful steps whose echoes are imprinted on the walls
what is left
in the ravishing summers where docile shadows swayed
the light that flowed through me like a legend
which darkness is it now pursuing in the cascade of the years
the lightning flashing distantly on my horizons
what does it now want to reveal of the beyond
which unanswerable questions in this endless inquiry
are reiterated unceasingly in the desolation of my life
in this blinding flood that may never end
yes, in truth, what is left
of my youthful steps whose echoes are imprinted on the walls
translated by Suat Karantay
from An Apocalypic Chain of Melody by Metin Cengiz
no, my love, I will not spell out this song for you
with its aroma discarded, metamorphosed in riots
I have long since stamped my seal
put down my clumsy signature
on the most challenging part of life
and at every sunrise I have brushed my teeth
pressing life hard onto my flesh
–come on, pick up that comb that adores poems
and start the day by combing your hair
translated by Suat Karantay
poem by Cemal Süreya
If the ones who will see us together tomorrow,
Ask you “who was the one you were together with yesterday?”
Don’t tell them about me in detail,
Briefly say “the one who is the rest of my life…”
translated by Nejla Karabulut
Wind by Cahit Külebi
A wind just blew past this way
I ran but could not catch it
Where it had wandered about
I was not able to find out.
Obviously blowing in from the sea
It must have swept along the seashore
The smell of salt, tar, sweat
Must have nauseated it.
Then starting to climb towards the mountains
It must have herded the clouds like sheep
Caressing the grass on the plains
Must have nourished them.
If it has stopped by in the villages
It must have rocked cradles in dark humid rooms
Must have brought solace
To those working under the sun.
Then beginning to ascend towards the plains
In the poppy fields pink, lilac, white
In the arid soil blue thorns
Dust must have filled its eyes.
It must have stopped by in cities since it swept past me
Must have seen girls looking like poppies
A smile, a strand of hair, rouge and powder
It must have carried away.
A wind just blew past this way
I ran but could not catch it
Perhaps it would have told me
But I could not ask it.
translated by Suat Karantay
from Letter to My Wife by Nazım Hikmet
And don’t forget
always to look on the bright side of things
as should a prisoner’s wife.
translated by Jean Carpenter Efe
I’m Out of the Clink by Mehmet Yaşın
Today I’m vying with the birds themselves
having been freed from darkness and solitude
the chance to stroll along a sunlit road
oh, how nice it is!
Today I smile at everyone I see
gazing my fill at every house and bus and tree
the chance to stroll on until the day I’m thrown back in
Oh, how nice it is!
translated by Suat Karantay
Women by Özdemir Asaf
I love you all so much.
You, you are the mothers of so many nations.
You give birth to children for fun.
Without even thinking
That one day they will become soldiers
And face to face will kill one another. . .
That they will become celebrities. . .
That they will become geniuses. . .
That they will become chiefs. . .
You give birth to children
To love them, to love them all over again.
All of you, of all ages
I love you every single part of you.
I just want to look at you all and hear you all
Because to love you all, to caress you all
all at once
is not possible.
They make paintings
They write poems. . .
They compose notes for you.
They play the saz
They drink, they get drunk.
For you.
For only you. . .
translated by Ayşe Banu Karadağ
Leonard Durso 