KONFORMIST

sanki her şey önceden yaşanmıştı
daha geçmeden biliyorduk bu yolları
söylenecek tüm sözler zaten yazılmıştı
soğuyan cesetlerimiz mutsuz olacaktı

küçük hayat parçaları ve önemsiz ayrıntılar
bilgimiz dahilindeydi
ama hiçbir  şeyi değiştiremezdik
bu hayat böyle bitecekti

her kâbus sonrası, sakinleşmeyi beklerken
tek bir cümle vardı sarılacağımız
"Ateş yiyen çocuklar
yirmisine varmadan ölürler"

Haziran 1990

© Metin Celâl

THE CONFORMIST

it was as if everything had been experienced before
we had already known those streets before even we walked on them
all the words to be said had already been written
our cold corpses were destined to be sad

little fragments of life and trivial details
included within the limits of our knowledge
but we weren't allowed to change anything at all
this life had to be led that way

while waiting to calm down, after each and every nightmare
there was one statement that we could hold onto:
"Children who eat fire
die before they turn out twenty."

June 1990

Translated by Zeynep Akkus