POETRY
Turkish Literature / Turkish Poetry
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Was Our Life
Really a Life
in the 21st Century?
— POEM by
Furkan Çirkin
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Was our life really a life in the 21st century?
It was like watching Fight Club for the umpteenth time—
But this time, at 1.5x speed;
It was a life with lots of free time;
But always in a rush.
Was our life really a life in the 21st century?
It was like looking up “Irish snake” in a dictionary;
It was like trying to find the definition of “there are no snakes in Ireland.”
There is, but doesn’t exist
a life.
Was our life really a life in the 21st century?
It was like playing football on the asphalt street—
However, it was like playing with newly purchased spiked shoes;
It was shiny and enthusiastic;
But in the wrong place and at the wrong time.
Was our life really a life in the 21st century?
It was like buying an extra loaf of bread every day—just in case! —
However it was like always eating the stale bread from yesterday;
It was a life of hoping for a better day;
But only a disappointment with accumulating late payment interest.
….
(Self-translation from TURKISH)
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Furkan Çirkin
Furkan Çirkin is a poet, editor and academic. He received two bachelor’s degrees in law and philosophy, a master’s degree and a PhD from Istanbul University. Additionally, he is a PhD(c) for his second PhD and an assistant lecturer at the University of Essex. And currently, he lives in Colchester with his wife, curator and artist Hiromi Horiuchi. His poems have been published in many respected poetry journals, including Varlik, the oldest one, and translated into many languages, including French, Italian, Persian and Romanian. Also, he has been publishing Yelkensiz Poetry Journal in Turkey since 2013. So far, he has three poetry books: Nihilist Alarm, Ser/h, and My Life: A Colourful Pitch-Dark. Moreover, he translated Percy Bysshe Shelley’s book “The Mask of Anarchy” into Turkish. Besides, he is a member of Advisory Board at Poetry Translation Centre in London. And, he holds numerous prestigious poetry awards in Turkey.
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