METIN TURAN (Kars-Turkey): "QUESTIONING"

QUESTIONING

Seven billion people live on Earth.

Seven billion hearts beat to live.

Seven billion people plant flowers, run machines, and sing songs.

They draw birds, ants, cars and trains in notebooks and papers.

And also windows, doors, houses, kitchen cabinets, olives and olive branches.

Seven billion hands, seven billion pens.

Yet it does not suffice to stop a handful of adventurous stark raving mads

From polluting the world, and bombing the creepy crawly, the ruddy-cheeked, 

Towheaded and cherry-blossom-dimpled girls in Bolivia, Syria and Iraq.

How many bullets are in the world, how many machine guns, anti-aircrafts and tanks?

How many submarines, rifles and bayonets?

Do you know, my human brother, how many bases ready to launch missiles, how many nuclear bombs?

And how many poor men are there in the world, how many babies who died without getting breast milk?

How many children who were dead and buried without riding a bicycle,

Riding on a swing and reaching school age

For once, yes, for once?

And why so much bread, chocolate, rice and macaroni are produced?

So many computers, cell phones, bicycles, apples, oranges, dates and peaches?

Which bullet will hit the target consisting of buds greened with tears?

I will add up these

And it will only be registered that I drowned in a river flowing wrongly.

METIN TURAN

Translated by Baki Yiğit

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METIN TURAN

He was born in 1966 in Kağızman (Kars-Turkey). He studied technical education, health and economics. His first tale was published in 1981. He has contributed as a publishing coordinator, delegate and writer in many progressive editions such as; Amatör Sanat, İmece, Yeni Şiir, Erde, which published in the 1980s. Also he has contributed to the magazines as an owner: Sanat Hareketi, Promete, Sendika, Ürün, Anadolu Ekini, Mecaz ve Praksis. Turan attended numerous international scientific and artistic meetings in Germany, Romania, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Syria, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, TRNC, Russia, Nakhichevan, Italy, Korea, Poland and Turkey. He concentrated his work in the field of folk literature. In 1995, he was honored with the Turkish Folklore Service Award of Folklore Research Institution. He was the folklorist who won this award at the youngest age so far. Metin Turan is the president of KIBATEK (Cyprus, Balkans, Eurasian Turkish Literatures Institution) and Folklore Researchers Foundation. In 2003, he won the first prize “Çalıkalı Spring Festival Turkish World” (in the Republic of Macedonia) and “2004 Ruşen Hakkı Poetry Award”. His poems were translated into Polish, German, Arabic, Bulgarian, Persian, English, Korean, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Uzbek, Kurdish, Armenian, Italian, Swedish, Ukrainian and Greek. In addition, his book “KÖROĞLU” was translated into Albanian and Serbian and published in these countries. In 2005 and 2006 he briefly taught Turkish Literature courses and conferences at Kiev National University and between 2007-2011, he gave lectures in folk literature at Yıldız Technical University/Faculty of Arts and Sciences as an academician.  Metin Turan took part in the regulatory committee of "History Foundation (Tarih Vakfı)" and "Pertev Naili Boratav Archive". In 1997-98, he worked in the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Turkey; Culture and Art Broadcast Advisory Board and Folk Culture Broadcast Advisory Board. Also he was a member of the editorial board of “Türk Dünyası” magazine.  He is the publishing coordinator of FOLKLOR/EDEBİYAT magazine whose contents are folklore, anthropology, sociology, history, music and literature, and has been published since 1994. In addition, he is the publishing director of KIBATEK (Cyprus, Balkans, Eurasian, Turkish Literatures Institution), which started its activities in 1998, and TURNALAR, an international translation and literary magazine.