Bir ağıtsa bu If this is a lament

Bir ağıtsa bu

Olmayan bir ülkeden söz ediyorlar
 
Olmayan dilden, kardeşlikten.
 
Konuşma yok
 
Yok kelimeler.
 
Anlaşılmak içinse yeryüzü
 
Kim ölümü anlatacak
 
Dağların aldığı nefesi
 
Çöken karanlığı
 
Kim anlatacak,
 
Bir çocuğun rüyasında büyüyenleri
 
Kim?
 
Kuşların kanatları
 
Eski bir masaldan bana doğru çırpınıyor
 
Eski kadınların anlattığı
 
Tenin taşa yakınlığı.
 
Belli ki bir ağıtçıyım ben,
 
Karanlık çöktüğünde
 
Dağların ötesinde
 
Kimi ansam bakıyor bana acıyla.
 
Bu bir ağıtsa
 
Ağlamak henüz başlamadı.
 

If this is a lament

They speak of a land that never was,
 
a non-existent tongue.
 
There is no utterance,
 
no words.
 
If we're put on earth
 
to understand each other –
 
who can make sense of death?
 
Explain how the mountains stole breath,
 
or translate the darkness
 
that has fallen?
 
Who can say what burgeons
 
in a child's dream?
 
Flapping out of an ancient tale,
 
birds' wings bear down
 
on me – and skin's
 
akin to stone
 
as the old women used to say.
 
When darkness falls
 
beyond the mountains,
 
the people I remember look to me
 
in pain. My words are elegy.
 
If this is a lament,
 
we haven't even
 
begun to cry.
 

If this is a lament/an elegy/a requiem

They are talking about a country that doesn’t exist
 
A language, a fraternity that doesn’t exist.
 
There is no speech
 
No words.
 
If the world is for being understood
 
Who is going to explain/tell about death
 
The breath of the mountains
 
The darkness falling down
 
Who is going to explain/tell,
 
What grows in a child’s dream
 
Who?
 
The wings of the birds
 
Are flapping from an old tale towards me
 
The proximity of the flesh/skin to the stone
 
That the women tell about.
 
It is clear that I was a tree,
 
When darkness fell down
 
From beyond the mountains
 
Whomever I remember they look at me with pain.
 
If this is a lament
 
Crying has not started yet.
 

Notes:

Ağıt means lament/elegy/requiem

The verb “anlatmak” (anlatacak, anlattığı) means to tell (a story), to recount, to narrate, to describe, to explain…

Here again with the word “ten”, you can either translate as “skin” or “flesh”.

Original Poem by

Bejan Matur

Translated by

Canan Marasligil with Jen Hadfield Language

Turkish

Country

Turkey