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Writer's pictureAysel K. Basci

The Migration Roads

Updated: Jun 21, 2023


Murathan Mungan (1955-present)

Written by Murathan Mungan, translated into English by Aysel K. Basci



My reading at the launch party, April 4, 2023



The Migration Roads


Tell the mountains, the wind

And the children in exile

Not to despair

There are paths to tomorrow


Today, the migration roads

Appear before us

They certainly do


But a day will come

When those roads

Will change course

They certainly will


The best weapon is hope

It’s the only gift we can leave for you


Give way to the winged horses

And the children returning from exile

Set fire to the peaks

There are paths to tomorrow


Even if we disperse along these roads

Tomorrow, the whole world will be ours


* * *


Göç Yolları


Söyleyin dağlara rüzgara

Yurdundan sürgün çocuklara

Düşmesin kimse yılgınlığa

Geçit vardır yarınlara

Göç yolları

Göründü bize

Görünür elbet


Göç yolları

Bir gün gelir

Döner tersine

Dönülür elbet

En büyük silah umut etmek

Yadigar kalsın size

Yol verin kanatlı atlara

Sürgünden dönen çocuklara

Ateşler yakın doruklarda

Geçit vardır yarınlara

Dağılsak da göç yollarında

Yarın bizim bütün dünya

The long one - English not close

* * *


Poet: Murathan Mungan is a prominent, prolific contemporary Turkish author who has published poetry, short stories, plays, novels, screenplays, radio plays, essays, and numerous political columns. His prose and poetry have been translated into many languages. In the US, his work appeared in such literary journals as Words Without Borders and Asymptote.

Translator: Aysel K. Basci is a nonfiction writer and literary translator. She was born and raised in Cyprus and moved to the United States in 1975. Aysel is retired and resides in the Washington DC area. Her writing and literary translations have appeared in the Michigan Quarterly Review, Columbia Journal, Los Angeles Review, Critical Read, Adroit Journal, Aster(ix) Journal, Bosphorus Review of Books, and elsewhere.



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