20th Century Turkish poetry

? by Orhan Veli Kanık

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Why do I think of masts
When I mention a port?
And of sailboats
When I mention the open seas?

Of cats when I mention March,
Of workers when I mention justice?
And why does the old miller
Believe in God without thinking?

And on windy days
Why does the rain come down at a slant?

translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat

On Mustard by Orhan Veli Kanık

/ zdunno03 / 5 Comments

I was so stupid.
For years
I didn’t understand
The place
Of mustard
In society.
“One can’t
Live
Without mustard.”

Abidin was saying
The same thing
The other day
To those
Who understood
Deeper things.

I know it isn’t necessary,
But may God deprive no one
Of mustard.

translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat

Heartache by Cezmi Ersöz

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Here we are alone again me and this pain within
again just you and I
put your hand in mine
shh! whatever you do don’t make me whine.

Oh my heartache deep within
put your hand in mine
let’s you and I find a way
not breathless in panic or shouting today
out of this deep dark forest echoing with howls. . .

My pain within, my heartache deep inside, oh you my love
here we are alone again
put your hand in mine
shh! whatever you do don’t make me whine. . .

translated by Jean Carpenter Efe

Sand by Gülten Akın

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I had a beloved once
who sent me some sand from his hometown
I, however, always wondered about the wind of that kind
whether it was tamed crazy continuous
whether it appeared suddenly in the sky
hurling what it gathered from the ground

there were cities we later shared
the wind masterful I inexperienced
it swept by violently, came and went
filling my eyes with sand

translated by Suat Karantay

After the Rain by Cevat Çapan

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This time
I brought with me
the chill of the streets
in which we once walked.
Your breath and gaze will be filled with
shadows of the eaves falling upon us
and the smell of sweet basil outside the windows
if you hold my hand.
At this crossroads
where everything is lost
and found again
when we are face to face with all that crowd
you will realize
the further
time takes you away from me
the closer
it draws me to you.

translated by Zeynep Bağcı & Suat Karantay

Desert by Cevat Çapan

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Whenever
I sit at a table
to write something to you
I think of the tightrope performers
of my childhood and
all of a sudden
the pen in my hand
gets longer and longer
like that balance-stick
and I soon
unlike that masterful tightrope performer
more like an inexperienced clown
fall down into the void
and start jumping
in the bouncing net of dreams
Then
with the laughter
of my invisible spectators
I try to crawl
in a dry sea of tears

translated by Zeynep Bağcı & Suat Karantay

Equilibrium by Tuğrul Tanyol

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here I wait at a juncture where the road goes on and on
the fear of falling within me
at those who meet and pass me by I look at those who come and pass me up
in mirrors I look at the deep dark tunnels
far behind me a train enters that tunnel of darkness
I only wait, for if I walk

oh, just like a skillful tightrope artist
how can I possibly have come this far

translated by Jean Carpenter Efe

There’s Something I Have Learned from What I’ve Lived by Ataol Behramoğlu

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There’s something I have learned from what I’ve lived through:
If you’re to live something, live it to its fullest
Your beloved should fall exhausted from your kisses
You should fall exhausted from smelling a flower

One can watch the sky for hours
Can for hours watch the sea, a bird, a child
To live on earth is to mingle with it
Growing roots that cannot be eradicated

When you hug a friend you should hug him vigorously
You should fight with all your muscles, body, passion
And once you stretch out on the hot sand
You should rest like a grain of sand, a leaf, a stone

One should listen to all the beautiful music on earth
So as to fill all his being with sounds and songs
One should dive into life as if
Diving from a rock into an emerald sea

Distant lands should lure you, people you do not know
You should burn with the desire to read all the books, to know all the lives
You should not exchange for anything the pleasure of drinking a glass of water
All the joys should fill you with the yearning to live

And you should know grief also, with honor, with all your being
For grief also, like joy, matures a person
Your blood should mingle with the great circulation of life
In your veins must circulate the eternal fresh blood of life

There is something I have learned from what I’ve lived through:
If you’re to live, live big, as if you are mingling with the rivers, the sky, the whole universe
For what we call a life span is a gift to life
And life is a gift to mankind

translated by Suat Karantag