ERAY CANBERK
(1940)

IN THE SHELTER OF A MOUNTAlN

or they are deceived by a lack of interpretation
under a sky no longer able to cloud
for it is not snow that falls
it is simply a chill perhaps

they miss a city
while living in another
for in fact they are not in their former places
when inadvertantly they look up into the sky

what changes is simply outside they think
what is there penetrating inside
besides the cold and sadness
and the dark that settles early

wish it would snow and never melt again
to get used to living this city
frozen its waters frozen its smoke
and sheltered in the nook of a mountain

and when an old forgotten song
is sung which nobody understands
a woman plants that far-away town
as homesickness in her heart
as she gets used to her womanhood

translated by Suat Karantay




FALLACY

hasn't changed at all
you may think
from the outside
step in --all torn apart

but will not complain ---has always been there-
and why should that position change
tell me
when we all feel the same

the lip as a twisted line --a bitter smile-
was always there
misleading

hasn'tchangedatallyoumaythinkfromtheoutside




ClTY FORSAKEN

with a life
used to the city, and the mystery
in the countryside
he missed so much

when you dream of
an escape so harsh, so cruel
go for it, if it's your way out
you, helpless captive

as that stern plundering
continues
why does all that
savagery reign

the past fell into him
with longing
even if it is a
provoking impulse

if the days are lost
the days of the dreamt city
then starts a slight
pain to replenish




FROM WITHIN

My love grows you constantly
green from its quick of life
flowerwise and childwise
erratically now and again

so many catastrophies so many fallops
go past leaving their traces
so many belated springs
are added to our sufferings

death, also taking away children
does not wait for turns
the wound heals from the top
the pain does not stop within

death catastrophe and love
head to head with living
the beginning is quite vague
the end a definite point

Translated by Yurdanur Salman


Eray Canberk was born in Istanbul in 1940 and finished his elementary and middle school education in Istanbul, and graduated from Haydarpaşa High School. He began studying in the Department of French Language and Literature at Istanbul University, but he left his studies. He worked as an elementary school teacher and later became a publisher. He also worked for encyclopedia publishing houses. He has done translations from French and has contributed important works of world literature into Turkish. His first poem came out in the journal Yelken (1963). His poetry has been published in journals such as Soyut, Yeni Gerçek and May. In his poetry of few words spoken in a sotto voice, he narrates human solitude and man’s internal world. His books of poetry include: Kuytu Sular/Secluded Waters (1969), Yüreğin Burkulduğu Zaman/When the Heart Aches (1983), Ebrular/Marbled Papers (1997) and Eskimiş Yalnızlığa/Worn Out Loneliness (Collected Poems, 1992).