Translated by Burak Erdoğdu / Roza Publishing
Read Turkish version
Narin Yükler's Creative Process
No water touches the nations of desert
Feet proceed with warm winds
Trails can be seen by the weights of the bags
Slowly chops the sands
I lay down my tongue to back of the coppery bowl
My hands are like roads that are between gulps
My hands collapse into Sahara
Mystery and prayer fall off from my face
Equal to house that has no stucco
Ramparts and wounds stay still at my chest
Trees that hold onto the barren lands
Epilepsy starts from the weak arms of the tree
Whichever arm that decays
Whichever side that turns to yellow
I bless her
Saints that come confessing to the tree
I kiss them with great desire
From the day that I fell down to the Sahara and epilepsy
Fooled by the borehole that comes from my clefts
I believe in a fairy tale of water
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Su masalı
su değmiyor çöl kavimlerine
sıcak rüzgârla ilerliyor ayaklar
heybelerin ağırlığıyla beliren izler
ağır ağır yarıyor kumu
dilimi seriyorum bakır tasın sırtına
ellerim iki yutkunma arası yol
ellerim içine çökmüş sahra
yüzümden dökülüyor sır ve dua
sıvası dökülmüş eve denk
duruyor göğsümde sur ve yara
çorak toprağın sırtına tutunan ağaçların
zayıf dallarından başlıyor sara
hangi dalı çürümüşse
hangi yüzü dönmüşse sarıya
onu kutsuyorum
ve ağaçlara günah çıkarmaya gelen azizeleri
iştahla öpüyorum
sara ve sahraya düştüğümden beri
yarıklarımdan çıkan kuyuya aldanıp
bir su masalına inanıyorum
Narin Yükler was born in Viranşehir of Şanlıurfa in 1988. She graduated from the Tourism and Hospitality Management School of Gaziantep University and from the Faculty of Business Administration of Anadolu University. After graduation, she started to work as a hotel manager. She got married in 2012 and had her daughter in 2014. During that time, she took part in the activities of various non-governmental and human rights organizations, especially women’s rights organizations.
Many of her stories and poems about Middle Eastern–especially Kurdish/Ezidi–women were published in several newspapers and magazines in Iraq, Belgium, Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey. She held meetings in refugee camps where she read her poems written in Kurdish and Turkish languages. She has written theatrical plays on the human and women’s rights, some of which were staged. Being a woman, a mother and a refugee in the Middle East. Her poetry books include Aynadaki Çürüme and Rê û Rêç. Her awards include KAOS GL Short Story Award – Selection Committee (2015), Hüseyin Çelebi Poetry Prize (2015), Ali İsmail Korkmaz Poetry Prize (2016), Golden Daphne Award For Young Poets – Selection Committee (2016), Arkadaş Zekai Özger Poetry Award (2017) and the Arjen ArÎ Poetry Award (2017).
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MY CREATIVE PROCESS
Can you tell us a little about the origins of this series of poems?
My poetry deals with war, women, and migration.
Why do you write?
To cling to life. I live in the Middle East and have seen many countries in the Middle East. I wrote scripts and poems during these travels. Writing is a way of defending life. And therefore I see literature as necessary. Yes, we can not change the world by typing, but we can tell what causes war and immigration. I want to tell everyone about it.
Tell us about some of your formative influences and teachers who have been important to you.
My teachers encouraged me to read. I started to study philosophy. I write poetry and I cannot write poetry without reading philosophy.
The Future – What are you currently working on?
I'm working on a Kurdish poem. I am living in the heat. I want to develop projects related to refugee flags and children. I am interested in making documentaries, films, and poetry workshops.
