OZDEMiR INCE
(1936)

INSOMNIA/I

Then there are those asking about the inheritance: Terra Nova!
Now, it comes a"d goes all alone;
was mine, will not be mine

all the land a wind can visit.

Terra Nova: The body is a storm of applause for life,
Terra Nova: Existence is the ransom for absence,
known is the larva phase of the unknown.

Terra Nova: The pose of a mountain fountain,
Terra Nova: The look of a bee hive,
an assembly of all trees and grass,
the animal world close and far;

my hand longing for the warmth of a palm.

Terra Nova: Terra Incognita.
The New Land: The Unknown (piece of) Land
the clearest bundle
I can remember:

The beginning hidden inside the end and a gift.

As an heir (I):
I will make a book out of ashes
and a palace out of all the cells sound passes through.

Translated by Sehnoz Tohir
 

SACE

My dreams! you used to say
my dreams shouldn't frighten you
but you should also be aware of the world.

As if!
I'd said it all
but all the words had erased themselves.

As if!
I'd seen it all, even the most arcane revelations
but they had been shrouded in darkness.

As if!
I'd heard it all, even the sounds beyond sound,
but had forgotten all the images.

As if!
I'd walked all the roads in vain
realizing that none of them leads anywhere.

As if!
Two armies had attacked each other
and inside of my body only a scream remains.

As if!
I'd filled a jug with water and taken a handful of soil
from the shadow of the sea and the earth.

O then I became a wind that had once blown
a flood that had overflown
a rain that had rained down.

My dreams! you used to say
my dreams shouldn't frighten you:
Death never kills anyone!

Translated by Simon Pettet ond Ulker lnce
 
 
Özdemir İnce (1936, Mersin) graduated from the Department of French at Ankara Gazi Institute of Education. He studied French literature and phonetics in Paris (1965-66). He worked as a teacher and retired from TRT/Turkey Radio Television (1982). He worked as an editor in various publishing houses and is currently a newspaper columnist. He has published poetry translations and books on poetry. His poetry has been translated into many languages, primarily French. His first poem was published in the journal Yağmur in Adana (1954), and later in journals like Pazar Postası, Türk Dili, A and Değişim. Although with his first poems he was considered to be part of the “Second New” movement, he mostly emphasized the relationships of society, man, politics and history from a socialist viewpoint. He values innovation and universality in the form and essence of his poetry. His books of poetry: Kargı/Lance (1963), Kiraz Zamanı/Cherry Time (1969), Rüzgâra Yazılıdır/Written on the Wind (1979), Elmanın Tarihi/History of the Apple (1981), Siyasetnâme/Book of Politics (1984), Hayat Bilgisi/Social Studies (1986), Başak ile Terazi/Virgo and Libra (1989), Gürlevik/Gürlevik Waterfalls (1990), Yazın Sesi/The Sound of Summer (1994), Mani Hayy/Ah, Shackle (1998), Evren Ağacı/The Tree of the Universe (2000), Keskindoreke Fındınfalava/Keskindoreke Fındınfalava (2006) and Magma ve Kör Saat/Magma and the Blind Hour (2007).