Five years ago, leading #Uyghur poet Tahir Hamut Izgil was traveling in Paris.
He got lost.
The result was one of the greatest Uyghur poems of the last decade.
I can only hope my translation has done it justice.
Read the whole thing.
1/6
He got lost.
The result was one of the greatest Uyghur poems of the last decade.
I can only hope my translation has done it justice.
Read the whole thing.
1/6
LOST IN PARIS
Like a stone gate standing motionless carved with
names I stared at the sky of an unknown street
while around me the city frothed and dizzied me
drenched me in cold sweat and rain
and before I really knew her I seemed to be lost
I was truly lost
I knew
2/6
Like a stone gate standing motionless carved with
names I stared at the sky of an unknown street
while around me the city frothed and dizzied me
drenched me in cold sweat and rain
and before I really knew her I seemed to be lost
I was truly lost
I knew
2/6
At night there was no use setting my sights by the selfless
Eiffel Tower that bravely reached down into the Seine
to fish its fate out of the murky water
so in the smelly old metro as the
iron door handle wore away like time
I watched
3/6
Eiffel Tower that bravely reached down into the Seine
to fish its fate out of the murky water
so in the smelly old metro as the
iron door handle wore away like time
I watched
3/6
The road map’s knotted strings seemed jumbled
like the manners of that uncouth old émigré and the heirloom
prayer beads given me by an unknown Turk aged thirty-eight
were of no use clicking softly in my pocket as
I listened
4/6
like the manners of that uncouth old émigré and the heirloom
prayer beads given me by an unknown Turk aged thirty-eight
were of no use clicking softly in my pocket as
I listened
4/6
I passed two tipsy Arab shopkeepers a Latin
American taxi driver a guy delivering pizza someone walking
a dog and none of them were lost together with me
I felt
5/6
American taxi driver a guy delivering pizza someone walking
a dog and none of them were lost together with me
I felt
5/6
Moreover new destinations and also history romance perfume artwork beauties daydreams et cetera
I must forego them all
I understood
Paris whispered to me oh you ill-starred one
go back the way you came
5 May 2015, Paris
__
Translation published @southern_review 2020
6/6
I must forego them all
I understood
Paris whispered to me oh you ill-starred one
go back the way you came
5 May 2015, Paris
__
Translation published @southern_review 2020
6/6
ئەسلى نۇسخىسىنى قوشۇشنى ئۇنتۇپ قاپتىمەن، مانا:
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
