Because I am a rose.
Through being a rose, I've explained my selfishness,
and my having been loved. When I heard the crackling sound
of the searing question of my fate, I said, it is because I am a rose.
I walked to clearly see what I might call my fate,
I walked a good amount. If you ask what I gained:
an unsatisfying explanation of the past,
a poor prediction for the future. I've known nothing,
I've seen nothing. Just a fragrance, drifting from my breast...
I lost my mind in those breathing deep in me. I am a rose,
I did not hear those sweet expressions, I did not understand what I lived
through.
If you ask what happened: I must have been loved.
That is all that happens to a rose and what will happen to it.
Everyone has beautiful eyes when you look at them closely enough,
every lip has a fine curve once you have kissed it,
everyone utters a nice pair of words if you talk to them for awhile
Yet if you are a rose like me, then things are different;
the rose is unknowing and does not understand whys...
They say that what will be will be, I cannot guess at all
the moment to come. To be loved, be loved, always be loved
if this is my foremost fate, I want to learn my color now,
I want to understand what happened. I am tired,
I am tired of being a rose. When I am just about to wither
a deep sobbing changes everything.
They say: fate makes its nets. I do not understand at all such expressions.
I would braid my hair when I was young. Where and when was it untied
not to be braided again? Is it God or the wind that flipped
the pages so swiftly? What I call my life is a rustle.
What happened yesterday was forgotten, what happens today will happen
tomorrow again.
Do not ask as to where we'll end up, I do not know, I am just a rose,
It is beyond me. A rose resides in a rose, if you have not gotten this yet,
Then let Fortune's wheel turn again.
To be able to enjoy being loved to the fullest
I've loved you.
Because I am a Rose
Mehmet Erte
translated from the Turkish by Abbas Karakaya and Elizabeth Raible
"Because I am a Rose" presented multiple challenges in translation. The unusual perspective—that of the rose—presented several awkward constructions. We sometimes found it hard to balance the intricacy of the emotion with readability. This challenge was especially pronounced in the last half of the first stanza: "Just a fragrance, drifting from my breast.../I lost my mind in those breathing deep in me." The quickly-shifting roles of the (especially unspecified) characters usually led to heavy language, unclear agency, or just strange combinations.
The language is dense with imagery, which contributes to the strength of the picture. Many of the images translated readily, but again the balance between fullness of meaning and heaviness of language. One Turkish expression, Kader ağlarını örer, we had a hard time finding a colloquial equivalent in English. "Fate makes its nets" seemed readily understandable and duly evocative, so we left it as is.
The language is dense with imagery, which contributes to the strength of the picture. Many of the images translated readily, but again the balance between fullness of meaning and heaviness of language. One Turkish expression, Kader ağlarını örer, we had a hard time finding a colloquial equivalent in English. "Fate makes its nets" seemed readily understandable and duly evocative, so we left it as is.
Mehmet Erte was born in 1978, in Turkey. He studied Physics at Sakarya University. His first poem, "Yıldırımları Beklemek", published in Varlık magazine in 1999. Erte's poems, short stories, essays and interviews have been published in various magazines such as Varlık, Kitap-lık, Yasakmeyve. Erte is the recipient of 2003 Yaşar Nabi Nayır Poetry Award with his manuscript Suyu Bulandıran Şey which was turned into a book in the same year. His first short story book, Bakışın Kirlettiği Ayna, and his second book of poetry, Alçalma, came out in 2008 and 2010, respectively. Currently he works as an editor at Varlık Publishing House.
Abbas Karakaya teaches Turkish Language and Literature at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. His collection of poetry, Yüreğimin En Denizaltı Haliyle, came out in 2006. His translations of poetry and prose were published in various journals both in Turkey and in the United States.
Elizabeth Raible dabbles in translation with various languages. She received an MA in Russian and East European Studies from Indiana University Bloomington, focusing on the history and culture of western Balkans. She lives in Boston.
