Barbaros Square
I know it's rude and shameless,
but I follow
mother and daughter
when they take a stroll.
The girl unobtrusively
walks a step ahead;
perhaps she's embarrassed
by her mother's shawl.
In Besiktas, Barbaros Square,
a monument on its right
a tomb on its left,
and the centre a square,
is the park of the poor,
especially in summer.
Hewn stones lie about
among saplings and tombs,
benches here and there,
and sitting in rows
people fill the square.
Ah, a young girl's heart
must surely look.
The rest is sea-front,
beached caiques,
a quayside cafe,
lights shed on the water
and Uskudar over there.
The mother, exhausted,
sinks to the humid earth,
but keeps her eye
on her daughter standing
While records play their loudest songs,
they sit on
and gaze at the sea.
The young are in need of fun,
Oh girl with the aging mother,
Oh cool breeze from seas!
Translated by Feyyaz Kayacan
but I follow
mother and daughter
when they take a stroll.
The girl unobtrusively
walks a step ahead;
perhaps she's embarrassed
by her mother's shawl.
In Besiktas, Barbaros Square,
a monument on its right
a tomb on its left,
and the centre a square,
is the park of the poor,
especially in summer.
Hewn stones lie about
among saplings and tombs,
benches here and there,
and sitting in rows
people fill the square.
Ah, a young girl's heart
must surely look.
The rest is sea-front,
beached caiques,
a quayside cafe,
lights shed on the water
and Uskudar over there.
The mother, exhausted,
sinks to the humid earth,
but keeps her eye
on her daughter standing
While records play their loudest songs,
they sit on
and gaze at the sea.
The young are in need of fun,
Oh girl with the aging mother,
Oh cool breeze from seas!
Translated by Feyyaz Kayacan