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Poetry

mind the parameters you’ve been given

By küçük İskender
Translated from Turkish by Ayaz O. Muratoglu & Efe Murad
Experimental poems by küçük İskender, an essential poet, novelist, and anarchist from Istanbul’s underground queer scene of the past decades.

two
germs: declared relevant, confirmed by unknowing.
           kid leans right at the cat. describes what 
           matters. aging gas, suitably
           positioned in the lungs. who will man-
           age the apartment?
hash, strikes all capillaries. the metal
farting pleases the landscape. action, aims
at this; as a precaution, ‘night’ begins.

four
destroy it, the gray horse will find the logbook
without looking for it. its eyes won’t keep the promise.
the seagull, understanding the sound and fearing it,
alone, dips its beak in the dirt. worn,
a missing chlorinated academic’s regret. haters
will turn the lad into ice cream:
the cone, haunted. as a precaution, ‘night’ begins.

two hundred and twenty-six
to get it first go to the color! mind the parameters
you’ve been given. look for your own formulas there, in that little space!
for instance: enis batur’s fixation on his fantasies.
softy souring.

four hundred and sixteen
in my room, a scops owl, i’m working to defend
my monstrous passions, my genesis. this vaude-
ville, for god’s sake, is a strange thing… in these private moments, 
i feel like a perfect faggot.
my room can’t hold my shame!
what have we done to these bitches?
why did they leave us alone?!
if we didn’t like the rules and laws they wrote,
left the city to listen to jazz, are we still guilty?
i kept looking for a place to lay my head. i’m not a pervert, o just-
ice hakim bey.

Originally published in cangüncem by Yapı Kredi Press in 1996 and reissued by Can Yayınları in 2022. Translation © 2025 by Ayaz Muratoglu and Efe Murad. All rights reserved.

English Turkish (Original)

two
germs: declared relevant, confirmed by unknowing.
           kid leans right at the cat. describes what 
           matters. aging gas, suitably
           positioned in the lungs. who will man-
           age the apartment?
hash, strikes all capillaries. the metal
farting pleases the landscape. action, aims
at this; as a precaution, ‘night’ begins.

four
destroy it, the gray horse will find the logbook
without looking for it. its eyes won’t keep the promise.
the seagull, understanding the sound and fearing it,
alone, dips its beak in the dirt. worn,
a missing chlorinated academic’s regret. haters
will turn the lad into ice cream:
the cone, haunted. as a precaution, ‘night’ begins.

two hundred and twenty-six
to get it first go to the color! mind the parameters
you’ve been given. look for your own formulas there, in that little space!
for instance: enis batur’s fixation on his fantasies.
softy souring.

four hundred and sixteen
in my room, a scops owl, i’m working to defend
my monstrous passions, my genesis. this vaude-
ville, for god’s sake, is a strange thing… in these private moments, 
i feel like a perfect faggot.
my room can’t hold my shame!
what have we done to these bitches?
why did they leave us alone?!
if we didn’t like the rules and laws they wrote,
left the city to listen to jazz, are we still guilty?
i kept looking for a place to lay my head. i’m not a pervert, o just-
ice hakim bey.

iki
mikrop: geçerli deklere, bilinmeyence doğrulanır.
           çocuk, kediye doğru eğilir. mühim olanı,
           anlatır. ihtiyarlayan gaz, kendine uygun
           ciğere mevzilenir. apartmanı kim yönete-
           cektir?
esrar, tüm kılcal damarlana demir atar. metal
osurdukça tabiat memnun olur. aksiyon, bun’a yö-
neliktir; bir önlem olarak ‘gece’ başlar. 

dört
kır at, farkında olmaksızın seyir defterini
bulacaktır. kır at’ın gözleri sözünde durmayacaktır.
martı, bir sedasının olduğunu anlayıp korkar,
tek toprağa banar. gagasında eskimiş 
bir eksik klorun akademik pişmanlığı. eleştirmenler,
çocuğu götürüp dondurma yaparlar:
külah, lanetlidir. bir önlem olarak ‘gece’ başlar. 

iki yüz yirmi altı
anlamak için önce rengine git! sana tanınan ölçüde
saygılı ol. sıkışık anlamda kendi formülünü ara!
örneğin enis batur’un düşlerine düşkünlüğü gibi.
usulca epriyerek.

dört yüz on altı
ben odamda bir ishakkuşu vaziyetinde, korkunç tutkula-
rımın ve yaradılışımın savunmasını çalışıyorum. bu vod-
vil, acayip bir şey yahu.. kendimi bu hususi anlarda
muhteşem ibne hissediyorum.
odam utanç tutmuyor benim!
biz bu kancıklara ne yaptık?
bizi niçin bıraktılar yalnız?!
onların koydukları kuralları, kanunları sevmediysek ve
şehirdışına caz dinlemeye gittiysek suçlu muyuz yani?
başımı sokacak bir yer arıyordum. ben sapık değilim ha-
kim bey.

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