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.