Neresinden Orasından Here and There

Neresinden Orasından

Akşamın vapurundayım

tombul bir ateşböceğinin içinde
Ve kıyı elmas bir kolye karşımda
Neresine dönsem orasından parlayan
 
Rüyamda tepeden tırnağa bıçak
giymiştim boy boy
Ben eksenimde döndükçe
kesiyordum karşımdakini
Her yan kanlı çelikti
ya da çelikli kan
Neresine dönsem orasına fışkıran
 
Susmadan önce her sözü denedim
Bilinmeyen bir küfür lazımdı
unutuluşunda yeni bir ses
mağara devrinden kalma
bir ulan,
Neresinden söylesem orasından ağlayan
 

Here and There

I'm taking the night ferry
a fat firefly
the coast a diamond necklace spread before me
sparkling here and there
 
In my dream
dressed in knives from head to toe
as I spun round
I cut whoever came near me
Each side was blood on steel
steel on blood
spurting here and there
 
I tried out all the words and then fell silent
I needed a new curse
words never spoken in vain
as old as the Stone Age
a cry
raging from here and there
 

From Where From There

I am in the steamer of the evening

inside a stubby firefly
And the coast a diamond necklace in front of me
Shining from there from wherever I turn
 
In my dream a knife from head to toe
of all sizes I wore
As I turned round my axis
I was cutting the one in front of me
Every side was steel with blood
or blood with steel
Bursting from there from wherever I turn
 
I tried all words before keeping silent
An unknown curse word was needed
a new voice in its forgetfulness
dating back from cave times
a curse word,
Crying from there from wherever I say it
 

That wonderful image of the coastline looking like a diamond necklace that opens this poem turns out to be deceptive: next thing, we’re in a bloody nightmare, a nightmare that leaves the poet silenced.

We contracted the title and reorded a couple of lines, but otherwise, like all of Karin’s poems, this came quite quickly into English.

Sarah Maguire, Workshop Facilitator

Original Poem by

Karin Karakaslı

Translated by

Canan Marasligil with The Poetry Translation Workshop Language

Turkish

Country

Turkey