MEHMET TANER
(1946)

7 February 1975

Old empty walls, old haircloth bed,
Old pen, old water;
laboured breathing. Shallow shadow -

lfonly I could remember! that life full ofdreams: the voice breaks,
a gradual sparkling slides over the honey-coloured water.

You are in the gardens. The gardens of Eden. A bright preen wind
washes the face hidden in the leaves with little raindrops.

I am the traveller of paths, the friend of berries.
Hidden in my inner soul, like the mouth ofa gully.
A mouth of fire, the lights I remember - your white back. To hold
on to a branch in the depth. The hopeless, green branch:
aching with passion. To kiss your belly.

This poem is to praise you and remember your name
'Old, beautiful, good, everything is with you' -
a candle burns by my bed for your eyes:
I pursued you and lost you in that dazzling fantasy,
Your eyes without compare, Present here, lighting my road.

Translated by Richard McKane

 

Mehmet Taner (1946, Nevşehir) graduated from Bakırköy High School in Istanbul and then from the Department of Theatre of the Faculty of Letters at Ankara University. He worked as an announcer and producer at TRT (Turkey Radio Television). He established the journal and publishing house of Tan (1968-1974). He also worked in the insurance business. His first poem, “Rüzgârlı”/“Windy”, was published in Soyut (1966). His poems have been published in journals such as Türk Dili, Oluşum, Yazı, Yusufçuk and Kitap-lık. Imagist in approach, he applies an accomplished understanding of Divan poetry to find his own poetic language. He has an image structure based on distant recollections and writes dense, inquisitive poetry. His poetry books: Sunak/Altar (1978), Bir Denizin Çekildiği Bütün Kıyılar/All the Sea Receeding Shores (1981), Arka Oda/Back Room (1981), Dip/Bottom (1995), Siperler/Barricades (1997), Veda Vezinleri/Meters of Farewell (2002), Çevre Çitin Üzerinde Yağmur/Rain on the Surrounding Fence, 2006) and Küflü Şimşek/Corroding Lightning (Collected Poems, 2007).