METIN CENGIZ
(1953)
 

AN APOCALYPTIC CHAIN OF MELODY

in my destiny I am an unimaginably huge woud
my face sucks in blood as I wipe it with my handkerchief
as my voice scatters in the wind like that of the fall
my letters intermignle with the pollen

letters are the alchemy of defying the world
to songs left unfinished
they are like an ever-changing malignant tumor
they are that stagnant water which chums
in my oversized universe that won't fit into books:
like a lilac stain
they seem to leave a trace in the night

so, with a new cause is the dawn breaking
filled with the cries of leaves gone berserk
and as I thus keep pouring my venom on my wound
the sentences turn into an apocalyptic chain of melody
let the sun fall on my fofehead, my sweat turn cold
at this most challenging point of my epileptic anguish

no, my love, I will not spell out this song for you
with its aroma discarded, metamorphosed in riots
I have long since stamped my seal
put down my clumsy signature
on the most challenging part of life
and at every sunrise I have brushed my teeth
pressing life hard onto my flesh

- come on, pick up that comb that adores poems
and start the day combing your hair

Translated by Suat Karantay
 

BLACK AND WHITE

I was not different from the negroes
their black was white
my white was black
there would be someone to love us

a beauty of love behind us
coming out from the dark
like a light
green and red
red and green
touching a fairy tale

trusting in a word
bringing to an end the tale
I would write my name on black stones
the letters would scream
like people in panic

then the hermaphroditic poetry
of night's sexuality
entering the cities like oblivion
at the beginning of every hour
with blood-shedding flags

Translated by Pinar Besen

METIN CENGIZ (b. 1953) is a poet. He graduated from the French Literature Department at Marmara University and is presently a high school French teacher. He has translated poetry by Neruda, Laforgue and Cesaire. He also works as editor for various publishing houses. Major poetry collections: Bir Tufan Sonrasi (The Aftermath of a Flood/1988), Buyuk Sevisme (The Great Lovemaking/l989), Zehirinde Acan Zambak (The Lily Opening in Its Own Poison/1991), Ipek'A (Silk'A/1993).