I have no intention of traveling;
But if I did
I would come to Istanbul.
What would you do
If you saw me on the streetcar
going to Bebek?
I told you though,
I have no intention of traveling.
translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat
Orhan Veli Kanik
On Mustard by Orhan Veli Kanık
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
in anticipation of my trip tomorrow to Istanbul and seeing friends: Makes Me Dizzy by Orhan Veli Kanık
Getting a letter makes me dizzy;
Drinking raki makes me dizzy;
Going on a trip makes me dizzy;
What’s the meaning of all this, I don’t know;
Someone singing “My Kazım”
In Üsküdar
Makes me dizzy.
translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat
All Of A Sudden by Orhan Veli Kanik
Everything happened all of a sudden.
All of a sudden daylight beat down on the earth;
There was the sky all of a sudden;
All of a sudden steam began to rise from the soil.
There were tendrils all of a sudden, buds all of a sudden.
And there were fruits all of a sudden.
All of a sudden,
All of a sudden,
Girls all of a sudden, boys all of a sudden.
Roads, moors, cats, people. . .
And there was love all of a sudden,
Happiness all of a sudden.
translated by Anil Mericelli
If Only I Could Set Sail by Orhan Veli Kanik
How pleasant, oh dear God, how pleasant
To journey on the blue sea
To cast off from shore
Aimless as thought.
I would set sail to the wind
And wander from sea to sea
To find myself one morning
In some deserted bay.
In a harbor large and clean
A harbor in coral isles
Where in the wake of clouds
A golden summer trails.
The languid scent of oleasters
Would fill me there
And the taste of sorrow
Never find that place.
Sparrows would nest in the flowered
Eaves of my dream castle
The evenings would unravel with colors
The days pass in pomengrate gardens.
translated by Ozcan Yalim, William Fielder, and Dionis Coffin Riggs
Migration II by Orhan Veli Kanık
Now
One can see trees
From his window.
And it rains during the day
Along the canal.
The moon comes up at night
And there is a Thursday market
In the square.
But he,
Perhaps it is exile, money,
Perhaps a letter,
He thinks of something else.
translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat
Migration I by Orhan Veli Kanık
From his window
Overlooking house tops
One could see the harbor
And church bells rang
Rang continuously on Sundays;
And at night
He could hear the train whistle
From his bed
At one o’clock;
And he began to love a girl
In the apartment
Across the street.
Despite all this
He left the place
And moved to another town.
translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat
A Fragment by Orhan Veli Kanık
I should have been
Have been
A fish
In a bottle
Of booze.
translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat
My Tree by Orhan Veli Kanık
In our neighborhood
If there were other trees
I would not love you so.
But if you knew
How to play hopscotch with me
I would love you much more.
My beautiful tree.
When you die
I hope we’ll have moved
To another neighborhood.
translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat
The Hill by Orhan Veli Kanık
In the next life, after the factories end their work
If the road taking us home
In the evenings
Is not
So steep
Death
Is not a horrible thing
At all.
translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat
Leonard Durso 