In Sum
By Rüştü Onur
Translated By Hüseyin Alhas & Ulaş Özgün
To Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı
If I were to die my dear mother
I would have nothing to leave you.
The butcher would take my jacket,
The grocer, my coat
On account of my debts ...
What about my loves
And my poems
How could you face the neighbors
And not be ashamed.
In sum, my dear mother,
No corn in the cellar
No wife at home.
Naked I was born
Naked I will die ...
Translated from the Turkish
Notes:
Read the Turkish-language version, “Hülâsa.”
Source: Poetry (March 2022)