Poems by Gökçenur Ç.
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AN UPTURNED RED UMBRELLA ON THE SEA Autumn evening-- an upturned, red umbrella on the sea 1- In the beginning, there was no word in this world. 2- God finished his suffering and created the words bhur (sky), bhuvas (air) and svar (earth) 3- The eye is real, whoever settles in the eye can wander freely among things. 4- The whole world is hidden in this knowledge, and this is hidden in the world. The smell of crushed grass tripped up the night; we slipped into the sea in our clothes. THIS EXPLAINS WHY YOU STARE AT ME LIKE A SPARROW CHICK TOPPLED TO THE GROUND We are two rains falling this autumn day on the same sea 1- Whoever departs from this world goes to the moon. 2- The moon sets free those who answer her question. The others, she sends back to the world as rain. 3- She asks him, “Who am I?” He should say, “You are reality.” She asks him, “What is reality?” He should say, “Everything but breath and feelings is reality. I’m you. You are the world. You are this world.” She sets him free. 4- I was born courtesy of my father, who was born on the thirteenth or twentieth month, on the thirteenth or twentieth month. Thus, I had to know or not to know the gods. Later I learned that the angels’ wings burst into flame the first time they make love. This explains why since then you stare at me like a sparrow chick toppled to the ground. Translated by Gökçenur Ç. |
Gökçenur Ç. is a poet, translator, editor and cultural activist. He was born in Istanbul, 1971 and still lives there. He studied Electrical Engineering and has a master’s degree in Business Administration.
He has seven poetry books in Turkish. He has 14 poetry in translation books. He has translated selected poetry books of Wallace Stevens, Paul Auster, Ursula Le Guin and many other poets into Turkish. His poems have been translated into 30 languages, published in magazines and anthologies. His selected poetry books have been published in Italy, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia. In the Lettres Capitales Project of European Capital of Culture Marseille 2012, his book in hand writing in French and Turkish has been prepared and published as a single exhibition copy. He is the editor of the Turkish literature magazine Çevrimdışı İstanbul (İstanbul Offline). He is the co-editor of the Turkish domain in Poetry International (www.poetryinternationalweb.net/). He is member of the editorial board of Macedonian based international literary magazine Blesok. He has participated and/or organized poetry translation workshops and festivals in many countries. He is the member of Cunda International Workshop for Translators of Turkish Literature. He is the curator and co-director of Word Express (www.word-express.org). He is the co-director of the Offline Istanbul International Poetry Festival, Mosaic of Methahors Gaziantep International Poetry Festival, Turkish American Poetry Days and board member of Nilüfer International Poetry Festival and Kritya International Poetry Movement. He also took part in the International Committee of Les voix de la Mediterranee International Poetry Festival in Lodeve. |
