Poet of the Month 057: SENNUR SEZER

 

 

SENNUR SEZER

 

THE SONG OF THOSE 
WHO WEAR SECOND-HAND CLOTHES

 

Once you’ve grown weary of purchased dreams
Throw them away and never look back
For I shall be there.
A dream of kissing in the moonlight
A worn-out velvet blouse silver embroidered
A repeated honeymoon with straps of lace
I don’t think I’ll wear it again... I’m so cold.
My dreams
Need warmth.

 

Soup left half-finished
Steak sent back and 'cheating' is not my habit
Your summer clogs have thin heels
What I need is something thick and washable
Something I’m as familiar with as my relatives
And color, color it must surely have
To hide my wear and tear.

 

In your markets you’ve no fabrics for sale
Which conjure up my childhood days when I touch them
Jealously concealing cherished secrets of my youth.

 

The size of your garments were not designed to fit my pains
You know what a fear it is
To grow old and be forsaken.
I have a whole range of them
But they do not coincide with yours
Mine are mostly born of affection.

 

It’s your second-hand garments that are sold in this department
And those are the ones I can afford.
The touch of my hands brings them back to life
Or is it by chance you who are worn out? 

1997

 

Translator unspecified 

 

 

 

Sennur Sezer was born on 12 June 1943 in Eskişehir, a province of western Turkey.  Her first poem was published in 1958 when she was a high school student.  She left school in 1959 to begin working at the Taşkızak shipyard.  Her first book of poetry, Gecekondu [Slum], appeared in 1964.

In 1965 Sezer began working for Varlık Yayınları [Varlik Publications], going on to publish her second book of poetry Yasak [Forbidden] the following year.  In 1967 she married her friend and colleague Adnan Özyalçıner, eventually going on to have two children with him.  In 1977 her third poetry collection, Direnç [The Resistance], was published.  Two years later she published a work for children titled The Story of Reality. 

Until 1982, Sezer worked as a copywriter in various publishing houses and on the staff of several encyclopedias.  She then devoted herself to writing poetry, essays, criticism and a number of film scripts, also finding time to become a founding member of the Turkish Labour Party, supporting women's rights and the right of the poorest Turkish workers to strike in order to gain higher pay and better working conditions.

Sezer, whose work was widely published in various newspapers and magazines, died in Istanbul on 7 October 2015.

 

 

 

 

Use the link below to read more translated poems by Turkish poet SENNUR SEZER:

 

 

http://www.turkishclass.com/forumTitle_39460

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Last updated 13 April 2021