Poems from The Cry of Souls
- THE AFRICAN GIRL
- IN THE AFTERMATH 0F A SUICIDE
- LIFE NEVER COMES BACK
- FALL
- GÜZ
- ****
- ****
- PITY
- YAZIK
- RAPE
- SOMEBODY
- THE ACCUSED of being a WITCH
- VIRGIN
- ***
THE AFRICAN GIRL
I was an African girl
the wonderful nature of my continent
made me happy
I loved both
my tribe
and others
Africa is huge
quite enormous
like the endless sky
it is infinite
with its land and fertility
heat and aridity
exclusive are
its taboos and animals
intertwined are
its mines and pains
eternal is
its darkness and prudence
its ignorance and wisdom are limitless
with unending treasons, music and dances
artists
can paint the picture gray
by mixing white with black
or the opposite
by mixing black with white
a big lie!
white is white
black is black in Africa
nature has granted womanhood
but the witch doctor cuts off the clitoris
claiming it unnecessary
I was afraid
very scared of the witch doctor’s razor blade
my mother cried
as she was pushing me in
my mother cried
while I was screaming
my mother cried
while my womb was bleeding
my mother was crying
as I was saying farewell to Africa
listen, my black-skinned African mother:
woman is created
even if customs sacrifice her
even if taboos silence her
she will be emancipated
if she learns to love
herself
and all women
IN THE AFTERMATH OF A SUICIDE
You Made Fun of Death
now
life is making fun of
those of us remaining
if only
you had lived your life
obversely
commencing from the grave
ending as a baby
see the state of us now
still
would you hang yourself?
if I had lived my life obversely
believe me
I would not have given birth to you
not because I am mad at you
rather because
I feel the agony you went through
I know the cause
of every sorrow I have lived through
(It) is not worth it
not for you
not for me
enduring the hardship
LIFE NEVER COMES BACK
we lived
what had to be lived
but you
joke not with death
but rather with us
us-the remaining
jokingly
command us
“living”
FALL
The brutality of fall
Makes us shiver
Winter's cold is a detail
Sadness of green fading away
Desperation in last shivering leaf
Every single wound bleeds
Reminds all of grief
Buried in the memory pit
GÜZ
acımasızlığı sonbaharın
üşütür bizi
kışın soğuğu ayrıntı
hüznü
yitip giden yeşilin
çaresizlik
titreyen son yaprakta
kanatır her yarayı
hatırlatır anı çukuruna gömülmüş acıları
****
I am an asylum seeker
daddy packed a suitcase
for each of us
then we were packed
into an old boat
I did not know
where we were going
I did not know
where we were living
I cried and cried
because
I had forgotton my Barbie
who was a lovely blonde
my brother was also sad
he had forgotten his ball under his bed
my mother cried too
I was puzzled
because she owned
neither a doll
nor a ball
I cried and cried
the sea water got angry at me
suddenly waves swallowed me
****
ben mülteci kızım
babam geldi
her birimize bir bavul verdi
sonra biz
eski bir takaya yüklendik
bilmiyordum
nereye gidiyorduk
bilmiyordum
nerede yaşıyorduk
ağladım
çok ağladım, güzel
sarışın Barbi bebeğimi unutmuştum
ağabeyim boynu bükük duruyordu
o da topunu yatağının altında unutmuştu
annem de ağlıyordu
şaşırmıştım
onun ne bebeği
ne topu vardı
ağladım, ağladım
deniz çok kızdı bana
sular kabardı
dalgalar yuttu beni
PITY
children of loveless mating
grow without compassion
the one who forgets bread comes from wheat
becomes ruthless
the one who earns money from money
cannot appreciate labor
if ignorance replaces empathy
people forget human virtues
when greed takes over hunger
world becomes unbearable
what a pity
for us first, then for the others
YAZIK
sevgi yoksunu sevişmelerin çocukları
büyür şefkatsiz
acımasız olur
ekmeğin buğdaydan geldiğini unutan
değerini bilmez emeğin
parayla para kazanan
hissediş seyretmeyle değişirse yerini
unutur insan erdemlerini
yaşanmaz olur dünya
aç gözlülük karın açlığının önüne geçerse
yazık olur
ilkin bize, sonra öteki herkese
RAPE
her eyes were frightening
neither despair, anger
nor pain could be seen in them
joy, bliss, hope
lost in the void
her crazed eyes
were drilling into brains
impossible to touch her heart
as there was nothing to touch
those eyes
oh, those formidable eyes
listen my sister;
your pain
is my pain
hold my hands and
forget your body
don’t let him
rape your brain
just because he violated your body
don’t intercept those moments
of laughter
of happiness in life
SOMEBODY
I am somebody
Who cannot remember
Who I was.
Maybe ten
Maybe ten thousand years ago
At the time
The glaciers covered the earth
When the sole problem
Was to survive
I was somebody or everybody
Beyond the concept
Beyond the realization
I cannot remember
Beyond my imagination
At the time of transformation
From being to having
My cell or Everybody’s cell
Came down with a disease
When children became
The child of a certain mother-father
When children were
The children of the tribe no longer
One bad seed
Maybe too many bad seeds
Started the malady
The living soul of mother earth
Missed the bliss of being
Evil started to win
Life forgat the meaning of happiness
I am the restless soul
With the burning desire
To reveal that
Being
Not having
Is the real source of joy
THE ACCUSED of being a WITCH
I was known as a witch
I used to be silent
when afflictions
entangled with my hair and
my insurgence dwelled on me
I wasn’t able to take my revenge
or to tell the truth
as a woman on my own
my thoughts, after centuries,
became feminist aphorisms
suppressing my pains
foreseeing all the troubles
sharpened my instincts
I began to know all
I was illiterate
literacy was no taught
I embraced life
I didn’t hide my prophecies
all I wanted to warn the others
if not revealed, my brain
would have burned with realities
then
my body was burned
with the order of Holy Inquisition
I know
every woman is a witch in her heart
every man is a grand inquisitor in his heart
setting
oh! It’s a cauldron of a witch
VIRGIN
I am a victim of rape
yesterday, I was a virgin
life is beautiful
every spring announces itself
with the force of a victorious wrestler
in the hope chests
lavender scented
dreams of innocence
await to be realized
nights of passion
await on the horizon
initiated with a hesitancy
that will mature into ecstasy
one unwelcomed penis
destroyed it all
like a waterless creek
my vagina dried up
likewise,
the source of my love
both in my heart and my head
I buried the life I had planned
A long with my innocence.
***
ben tecavüz kurbanı bakireyim
yaşam güzel
ilan eder yeşiller
baharda geleneksel galibiyetini
tuş olmaz pehlivan örneği
sandıklar
lavanta kokusu
bohçalanmış gelecek
bekler, gerçekleşecek
masum hayaller
sevişmeye doymaz geceler
önce utangaç
gittikçe şehvetli
bir davetsiz penis
her şeyi mahvetti
kuru dere yatağı
oldu vajinam
kurudu sevgi pınarları
hem yürek hem beynimde
müsvedde yaşamı gömdüm
bir bakire sevinciyle
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