Translated from the Turkish by Talat Sait Halman
The Battle of Kadesh*
On one of the banks of River Orontes
Mutawallis† stood among his soldiers
And stared without stirring.
On the opposite bank, the Pharaoh
Ramses had mounted his chariot:
He stared straight ahead.
This is all we know about it.
Even though history tells it at length
This is all we know about it.
This look is all that remains or can remain.
I Became a Tree
I was going under a tree
It happened in a flash
I fell apart from myself
And became a poppy flower
Bending in the sun,
Tortoise shell, house of wedding
Delirious talk, bevy of names.
I turned into the petal that drags
The wind like a blind God,
I became the century.
A tiny moment like a bug.
I was going under a tree
I became a tree
That propels itself
And saw someone stuck in the ground.
Barefoot
The top part of this piece of writing
Couldn’t be read; no one knows who wrote it either.
Never mind, what matters is the words, not the sound.
“…Then I ate whatever I found in the house:
Bread, almonds, dill.
Barefoot I jumped on the horse,
The wine of the morning was raving mad
So I dashed through the people and went away
Full gallop.”
Are We Going to Live Without Aging?
At dawn, a throng came out
Of the skies: Convex shields, glittering
Tattoos, a rose, a daggered
Heart, bows of wheat,
Aquariums emptying out, a king,
A turkey’s crest, a fresh corpse,
Brass-footed horses, a wine in a glazed jug
Waiting to be poured into the sea.
A tumult arose from the roots of the trees,
Eyeless monsters emerged from the sea.
What’s that? Should we believe in rapacious beaks?
Or in thin axes, in grass burned at night
Or in tree-shaped wings?
I pay no heed to clouds, I don’t care
If they go south along the river
Or to the slow lakes set afire by towers.
Let them go…. Are we going to live without aging?
Come, let’s go and see the dawn’s spider.