THE LAKE at night feeling secure, we went off to our beds but the lake stayed alone in darkness ı wish she would talk with the summer grasses and would listen to the song of hot herbs ı wish falling stars would stop her worries and she wouldn’t feel cold at night we fell into a deep asleep the mountains were covered with distances but the lake was still awake she was wandering alone among the bulrushes ı prepared a bed for her ı wish she would come to us.
Translated by Tozan Alkan
THE NIGHT TESTIMONY II every stone wants to walk, just look the ash wants to remember that beginning of fire the blood wants to sprout in embrace of night the deads want to laugh, just look. dug soil, found seed, mold who can explain distance of sadness if mountain appear so, it know a thing if sea go mad, it know a thing this is loneliness,this is love, this is death breath of bird is boreing night, just look.
Translated by Salih Bolat
Salih Bolat was born in Adana in 1956 and completed his elementary through high school education there. He graduated from the Department of Social Politics at the University of Gazi (1980). He completed his doctorate at Hacettepe University. . He was on the editorial board of the journals Koza, Petek, Yapıt and Yarın. He has published books of essays, poetry and criticism. His first literary work was his short story entitled Çöpçü/Garbage Man published in the newspaper Yeni Adana (1975). He has also been published in journals like Yeni Olgu, Türkiye Yazıları and Düşler. In his socially oriented poetry, he depicts the individual’s distress and pain, and the details of life. He has an imagist and lyrical style. His books of poetry include Yaşanan/What Is Lived (1983), Bir Afişin Önünde/In Front of a Poster (1986), Sınır ve Sonsuz/Limit and Infinity (1988), Karşılaşma/Encounter (1993), Uzak ve Eski/Distant and Old (1995), Gece Tanıklığı/Witness to the Night (1999), Açılmış Kanat/Spread Wings (2004) , Kanıt/Evidence (2006). ), and Atların Uykusu /Sleeping of the Horses/(2014)
Awards: 1. 1984 Akademi Kitabevi Poem Prize 2.1986 Yaşar Nabi Nayır Poem Prize 3.1990 Ceyhun Atuf Kansu Poem Prize . 4.2002 Ahmed Arif Poem Prize 5.2003 Yunus Emre Poem Prize 6.2004 Homeros Work Prize 7.2007 Behçet Aysan Poem Prize 8. 2015 Metin Altıok Poem Prize