Tenha Deserted

Tenha

Okumadığım gazetelerin sayfalarından aktı gün
 
tıka basa söz, fazla resim
 
Söyleyeceğimi unutunca söylediğim de
 
siliniyor hafızadan
 
Günlerin adı olması ne komik
 
hepsi bir sonsuzlukta asılı kaldıkça
 
Ne sandın ya
 
Her dil bir veda aslında
 
Her dil çoklu çaresizlik
 
Masumiyet büyük kaçıyor ağzına
 
küçük bedenleri tüketen Çin
 
mallarını aldığında
 
Kâinat düşlemiştin sahi
 
Hayat Made in China
 
Sınav çözen sınıf sessizliğindeyim
 
Bir şey vardı unuttum
 
ya da çekindim paylaşmaya
 
Karanlık bir sarnıç var kalbimde
 
Dışım nasıl kalabalık
 
içim nasıl tenha
 

Notes on TENHA:

Ne sandin ya: the verb sanmak means think, imagine, suppose… and the ya at the end is an interjection and could mean oh, well, eh… It makes the “what did you think” more personal and direct (please note that ya can also sometimes mean “or” as you’ll see later)

This verse can have two meanings, as I have translated above, I am giving you word to word translation:

Masumiyet (innocence) büyük kaçıyor ağzına (is too big for your mouth)
küçük (small/tiny) bedenleri (bodies) tüketen (consuming) Çin (China, the country, but can also be Chinese when followed by a noun like in the next line)
mallarını (the goods of China (if used with Çin) | their goods (if Çin refers to the country) aldığında (when you buy)

Deserted

The day flows past the newspaper spreads I leave unread
 
crammed with words, a surfeit of images
 
Whenever I forget what I was about to say, even what I do speak
 
is wiped from memory
 
Isn’t it funny how some days are given titles
 
all hanging there in eternity
 
What did you expect
 
Every language is really a goodbye
 
Every language is a manifold despair
 
Innocence is too big for your mouth
 
China consumes small bodies
 
every time you buy its goods
 
Yes, you dreamed of a universe
 
Life is Made in China
 
I’m silent as a classroom mid-exam
 
There was something I forgot
 
or was too shy to share
 
In my heart there is a dark and vaulted well
 
How crowded I am on the outside
 
how deserted within
 

Deserted

The day flew by the pages of the newspapers I don’t read
 
crammed with words, too many images
 
When I forget what I am going to say what I say also
 
gets erased from memory
 
How funny that days have names
 
as they all hang on an eternity
 
What did you think
 
Every language is goodbye really
 
Every language is a multiple desperation
 
Innocence is too big for your mouth
 
China consumes small bodies | when you buy Chinese goods
 
when you buy their goods | consuming small bodies
 
True you had dreamed of a universe
 
Life is Made in China
 
I’m as silent as a classroom during an exam
 
There was something I forgot
 
or I was too shy to share
 
There is a dark cistern in my heart
 
How crowded I am outside
 
how deserted inside​
 

Original Poem by

Karin Karakaslı

Translated by

Canan Marasligil with Sarah Howe Language

Turkish

Country

Turkey