Bu eller miydi masallar arasindan
Rüyalara uzattigim bu eller miydi.
Arzu dolu, yasamak dolu,
Bu eller miydi resimleri tutarken uyuyan.

Bilyalarin aydinlik dünyaciklari
Bu eller miydi hayati o dünyalarin.
Altin bir oyun gibi eserdi
Altin tüylerinden mevsimin rüzgari.

Topraktan evler yapan bu eller miydi
Ki simdi degmekte toprak olan evlere.
El isi vazifelerin önünde
Tirnaklarini yiyerek düsünmek ne iyiydi.

Kaybolmus o çizgilerden
Falcinin saadet dedikleri.
O köylü çakisinin kestigi yer
Sögüt dallarindan düdük yaparken...

Bu eller miydi kesen mavi serçeyi
Birkaç damla kan ki zafer ve kahramanlik.
Yorganin altina saklanarak
Bu eller miydi sevmeyen geceyi.

Ayrilmis sevgili oyuncaklardan
Kirmis küçücük siselerini.
Ve her seyden ve her seyden sonra
Bu eller miydi Allaha açilan

english

Were these the hands that used to leap
Out of fables into dreams, were these the hands?
Full of yearning, full of life,
Were these the hands that clutched the pictures and fell asleep?

The tiny shining worlds of marbles were theirs.
Were these the hands that sparked them into life
Where the season's breeze wafted
Like a golden game out of their golden hairs?

Were these the hands that built the houses of clay
Which now caress the houses turned to dust?
Face to face with arts-and-crafts assignments,
It was so nice to muse and bite your fingernails away.

Gone from those lines for good
Are aspects that the fortune-teller read as happiness,
Where the jackknife had slashed
While carving whistles out of willow wood.

Were these the hands that slayed the blue sparrow,
Sporting some drops of blood for victory and glory?
Hiding underneath the quilt
Were these the hands that hated the night so?

They abandoned all the cherished, flighty
Toys and smashed their tiny bottles, too.
Yet, in the face of everything,
Were these the hands that opened up to God Almighty!