METIN TURAN

 

The State Of Affairs

 

consider me as goodbye, my love

a commander victorious on all fronts, defeated in love

consider me a paper caught in floodwaters

 

whichever railway station i stop by, i am at a wrong switch

whichever intersection i come to, no left turn

consider me as an evening, my love

as erzurum surrendered to sulfur smoke

consider me as diyarbakır, my love

as a punished poet hanged on the walls

 

my adolescence is passing by with notches cut in my life

i am in custody every Tuesday, incidents every Thursday

police courtyards on Fridays

consider me in love for life, my love.

 

Istanbul Song

 

whichever knocker of the doors I hold on, 

I hear a voice of velvet, saying come in

your tears make the rain jealous

my love, you are in Istanbul

your joy is clear from your voice

 

stars above the dark bluish sky are

a flock of swallows

whenever a light is on the maiden's tower,

my heart anchors at your pier

 

Sultanahmet and hagia Sophia are

the two separate bows of my violin of heart

if my wire is incompletely stretched on one of them, 

obviously, my hand on the other one will be sprained

 

and ferries, cabins filled with love on ships

workers, bosses

low and high engine noises

bread, olives, cotton, figs

and the lifetime of humanity with its steel ropes

flows from the black sea to marmara

from Aegean to Mediterranean

as if flowing from palm to palm

 

ah karakoy!

the smell of iodine that hugs my hair

if a dove takes off from a distant church bell

with half a slice of bread in its beak,

it completes the last word of the song

on the dome of a mosque nearby

 

my eyes are a close port in Asia

if i sip my tea at a late breakfast

my coffee will be an early afternoon in Europe

 

i brought you over from far journeys

and wrapped in my hot breath

in the nook of the tired eyelids

that's why it’s moisture does not dry

whichever frost I tremble in and be scorched in the red sun

 

I have loved you in a crazy Istanbul wind

in this phosphorus evening,

holding on to the wooden mansions

an oriel of which I was hanging from  

embroidered on the bride girl's veil

 

whichever eye falls on the pavement

at the speed of a blue marble

it means you are in Istanbul

the tremendous seagull sounds on the roofs

the damp balconies of slums

apparently, the guests have come from afar

the streets scream out the mouthful of songs

the flower shops: my dear Istanbul

the welcoming scents sprinkled from one balcony to the next.

 

METIN TURAN

 

METIN TURAN: He was born in 1966 in Kağızman (Kars-Turkey). He studied technical education, health and economics. His first tale was published in 1981.Turan attended numerous international scientific and artistic meetings in Germany, Romania, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Syria, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, TRNC, Russia, Nakhichevan, Italy, South Korea, Poland and Turkey. He concentrated his work in the field of folk literature. In 1995, he was honored with the Turkish Folklore Service Award of Folklore Research Institution. He was the folklorist who won this award at the youngest age so far. Metin Turan is the president of KIBATEK (Cyprus, Balkans, Eurasian Turkish Literatures Institution) and Folklore Researchers Foundation. In 2003, he won the first prize “Çalıkalı Spring Festival Turkish World” (in the Republic of Macedonia) and “2004 Ruşen Hakkı Poetry Award”. His poems were translated into Polish, German, Arabic, Bulgarian, Persian, English, Korean, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Kurdish, Armenian, Uzbek, Ukrainian and Greek. In addition, his book “KÖROĞLU” was translated into Albanian and Serbian and published in these countries. In 2005 and 2006 he briefly taught Turkish Literature courses and conferences at Kiev National University and between 2007-2011, he gave lectures in folk literature at Yıldız Technical University/Faculty of Arts and Sciences as an academician. Metin Turan took part in the regulatory committee of "History Foundation (Tarih Vakfı)" and "Pertev Naili Boratav Archive". In 1997-98, he worked in the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Turkey; Culture and Art Broadcast Advisory Board and Folk Culture Broadcast Advisory Board. Also, he was a member of the editorial board of “Türk Dünyası” magazine. He is the publishing coordinator of FOLKLOR/EDEBİYAT magazine whose contents are folklore, anthropology, sociology, history, music and literature, and has been published since 1994. In addition, he is the publishing director of KIBATEK (Cyprus, Balkans, Eurasian, Turkish Literatures Institution), which started its activities in 1998, and TURNALAR, an international translation and literary magazine.