Translator’s note: The last few years have seen the emergence of a remarkable group of young poets in Turkey’s Uyghur exile community. One of the most prominent is Imran Sada’i, who left his homeland as a teenager. Fully bilingual, Imran composes poetry in both Uyghur and Turkish, and translates verse between the two languages. Still in his early twenties, Imran has made a name for himself in the Turkish literary community with his writing as well as his active participation in literary events. His poetry often packs considerable emotional complexity into a few short lines, with striking imagery that stays in the mind long after reading. The poems presented here are the first publication of Imran’s work in English translation.
Smoke
When the smoke that rises in me
smothers the world outside
I sit on the shores of emptiness
and watch my soul foaming red
Kite
I am a kite, tangled
in the brilliant branches of an unknown world.
Thoughts flying by like cars
pain as heavy as the road
make the land my heart settled
a sinister ruin.
Sinking
No poems to write now.
No songs to hear,
chats to have,
words to say,
nothing.
What to do?
Within me all is hushed.
Oh, I’m filled
lavishly with silence,
brimming.
Copyright © Imran Sada’i. By arrangement with the author. Translations copyright © 2023 by Joshua L. Freeman. All rights reserved.
