The Mermaid / Orhan Veli Kanık

THE MERMAID

She had probably come out of the sea right then,
Her haid and her lips
Smelling of the sea till daybreak,
Her breasts with their own ebb and tide.

She was poor, I know
- But you can't talk of poverty all the time -
She softly sang into my ear
Her songs of love.

Who knows how much she had seen and learned
During a life spent cheek by jowl with the sea
Mending the nets, casting them and pulling them out,
Making fishing lines, cutting bait, cleaning the boat.
Her hands were prickly fish
When they stroked nine.

I saw that night - I saw it in her eyes
How wonderful is dawn out on the high seas;
Her hair taught me all abaut the waves:
I kept rocking in dreams.

Orhan Veli Kanık

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orhan_Veli_Kan%C4%B1k

Translated by Talat Sait Halman





THE MERMAID

She must just have left the sea.
Her hair and lips
Smelled of the sea till the morning.
Her rising and falling breast was like the sea.

I knew she was poor–
But you can’t talk of poverty all the time.
Gently, next to my ear
She sang songs of love.

Who knows what she has learned and experienced
In her life fighting the sea.
Patching fish nets, casting fish nets, gathering fish nets.
Making tackles, dropping out baits cleaning boats.
To remind me of spiny fish
Her hands touched my hands.

That night I saw, I saw it in her eyes;
How lovely the sea has risen in the open sea.
Her hair taught me about waves;
I tossed and tossed around dreams.

Orhan Veli Kanık

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orhan_Veli_Kan%C4%B1k

Translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat





DENİZ KIZI

Denizden yeni mi çıkmıştı, neydi;
Saçları, dudakları
Deniz koktu sabaha kadar;
Yükselip alçalan göğsü deniz gibiydi.

Yoksuldu, biliyorum
-Ama boyna da yoksulluk sözü edilmez ya-
Kulağımın dibinde, yavaş yavaş,
Aşk türküleri söyledi.

Neler görmüş, neler öğrenmişti kim bilir.
Denizle boğaz boğaza geçen hayatında!
Ağ yamamak, ağ atmak, ağ toplamak,
Olta yapmak, yem çıkarmak, kayık temizlemek...
Dikenli balıkları hatırlatmak için
Elleri ellerime değdi.

O gece gördüm, onun gözlerinde gördüm;
Gün ne güzel doğarmış meğer açık denizde!
Onun saçları öğretti bana dalgayı;
Çalkalandım durdum rüyalar içinde.

Orhan Veli Kanık

Stephanie Seymour, Hawaii, 1989, by Herb Ritts