NIHAT BEHRAM
(1946)

WISH FROM THE EAST

Feed me with the horror of the past
with the juice and sap of the future

Hang cherries on my ears as earrings wash
my kerchief with basil herb

Impress on my memory the crazy thunder
let the echoing nights close on me

Introduce me to the winds
tie my eyes to the storm

Know that I am the blood brother of your tears
cast a spell on me with your hope

Give me shooting stars in the desert of the night
make me the point between two flints rubbing together

Rain on my breast the rain that washes the ears of wheat
invigorate my groin with olive leaves

I shall take you captive with poems
know that I am your slave

Translated by Richard McKane

Nihat Behram was born in Kars in 1946. He graduated from Haydarpaşa High School in Istanbul and studied journalism at Istanbul University. He was the Editor-In-Chief of the journal Halkın Dostları, which was closed after the March 12th military coup in which he was arrested (1972). He published the journal Militan with Ataol Behramoğlu (1975-76), and the journal Güney with Yılmaz Güney (1977-80). He was exiled after the September 12th military coup. His books have been translated into many languages. A poet of the 1968 generation, his first poem, “Manastır Kuşçusu”/“The Bird Man of the Monastery” was published in Soyut (1967). He has been published in journals like Soyut and Yordam. Within a socialist perspective, he wrote poetry about revolutionary struggle, nature and love. His books of poetry include: Hayatımız Üzerine Şiirler/Poems of our Lives (1972), Fırtınayla Borayla Denenmiş Arkadaşlıklar/Friendships Tested by Storm and Hurricane (1974), Dövüşe Dövüşe Yürünecek/Advancing Fight by Fight (1976), Hayatı Tutuşturan Acılar/The Pains that Kindle Life (1978), Irmak Boylarında Turaç Seslerinde/The Sounds of Francolins on the Shores of the River (1980), Savrulmuş Bir Ömrün Günlerinde/In the Days of a Scattered Life (1982), Yalın Yürek/Bare Heart (Collected Poems, 1998), Kundak/Swaddle (2000) and Tanımlar/Definitions (2008).