to sweeten I add a pinch of the wind whipping the faces of workers fallen off the buildings
revolutionaries are painting banners I take the goodness of their heart onto a frying pan
I add the blood still warm of a man stabbed in the street
I mix everything in a separate bowl and set it outside my door
because my conscience is a hungry fox
but once he is full he purrs like a cat lying down next to me we dive into dreams together
2. The Nature Of Our Relationship
the camera inside the nest is broadcasting live to 3000 people in this unfamiliar setting I stay alive by feeding on my emotions frozen eaglets food for the mother so she gives birth again
3. Memory
the female velvet spider that allows her babies to eat her when the time is right every beautiful thing that happened to us
Translated by Aron Aji
1. Vicdanım Aç Bir Tilki
her akşam yatmadan önce
dilenci fısıltılarını havanda eziyorum
tatlandırmak için inşaattan düşen işçilerin yüzüne çarpan rüzgârdan bir tutam ekliyorum
pankartları boyuyor devrimciler onların kalbindeki iyiliği bir sahana alıyorum
sokakta bıçaklamış bir adamın henüz sıcak kanını katıyorum içine
her şeyi ayrı bir kapta karıştırıp koyuyorum girişe
çünkü vicdanım aç bir tilki
ama doyduktan sonra bir kedi gibi mırlayarak uzanıyor yanıma birlikte dalıyoruz rüyalara
2. İlişkimizin Doğası
yuvadaki kamera 3000 kişiye canlı yayın yapıyor bu yabancı ülkede hayatta kalmak için beslendiğim duygularım yeniden doğurması için annelerini doyuran soğuktan donmuş birer kartal yavrusu
3. Hafıza
zamanı geldiğinde yavrularının kendisini yemesine izin veren bir dişi kadife örümcek başımıza gelen her güzel şey
Efe Duyan (poet, architect, event curator) was born in Istanbul in 1981. As an internationally recognized poet, he has been invited to numerous international events, including the Hurst Professorship at St. Louis University and IWP at Iowa University. His poems have been translated to over twenty five different languages. His poetry collections are The Silence Between Two Heartbeats (2023), Sıkça Sorulan Sorular (Frequently Asked Questions, 2016), Tek Şiirlik Aşklar (One Poem Stands, 2012) and Takas (Swap, 2006) and his debut novel Başka (Other) has appeared in 2022. He received the Terakki Foundation Award in 2017. As an advocate of freedom of expression and creative thinking, he has been an active cultural actor curating international events, workshops and conferences. He has co-created the Offline Istanbul Poetry Festival, Turkish American Poetry Days and Mosaics: Gaziantep International Poetry Festival. He is currently teaching architecture at RISEBA University, Riga. He has affiliated with several universities for research or guest lectures, such as Berlin Technical University, Ca' Foscari University, Minnesota University, Istanbul Technical University, Atalanta University, Iowa University, George Washington University, and Boston Massachusetts University.