germănar

-I had no idea that they’ve translated Sorescu into Turkish.
-Why would you want to know that?
-I’m just saying.

Îmi întinde o carte. Pe copertă este o barză stilizată, cu aripile desfăcute; în loc de pene are pagini albe, în loc de cioc – un toc.

-Anyway, you just made me curious. Would you read out loud some verses in Turkish, please?
-Hmm. This seems quite pertinent, given the context: „Hastanenin yanından geçiyor raylar/ Ve tam odamın önünde/ Makas değiştiriliyor./ Bu demiryolu gürültüsüne alıştım.”
-Meaning?
-„The tram tracks pass by the hospital/ And directly in front of my room/ The switch is thrown./ I’ve become used to this railroad noise.”
-I don’t know that one. Or remember it.
-It’s called “Makasçi”. The Switch. Why are you laughing?
-We have “macaz” in Romanian too. Now I know where it comes from.
-It’s a bilingual volume, as you can see. I cannot read your language properly, though.
-Let me try. Yep, “Macazul”. Umm, it’s short and mellow.
-Indulge me. I’ve never heard the original version.
-It goes on like that: “Uneori, noaptea, când/ Cu chiu, cu vai, reuşesc să aţipesc,/ Sună ca o bubuitură./ Mi se pare că din fiecare tramvai/ Coboară un om şi vine în fugă/ Să ne aducă o veste./ Îmi bate la uşă:/ Cine e, întreb eu plin de speranţă:/ Intră!/ -Sunt eu, macazul./ Te anunţ că a trecut şi tramvaiul 14.”
-Do you like it?
-The no.14 tram passes right in front of the building where I used to live, in Bucharest.
-I have to see that.
-The building?
-The tram.
-Oh my. You’re a very thorough researcher.
-Whaat? I love books and trams: and even more books on trams; they help soften the “railroad noise”, as the poet said.
-Human noise as well.
-Humans are tolerable. But, now, as a very thorough researcher, I really have to ask: what are you browsing there, human?
-That’s cheating. I’ll read something to you instead, and you tell me what it is. You’re the expert.
-Challenge accepted.
-Here, the first poem in the book: “My animal howls/ My angel’s upset/ But I’m not allowed/ A trace of regret/ For someone will use/ What I couldn’t be/ My heart will be hers/ Impersonally/ She’ll step on the path/ She’ll see what I mean/ My will cut in half/ And freedom between/ For less than a second/ Our lives will collide/ The endless suspended/ The door open wide/ Then she will be born/ To someone like you/ What no one has done/ She’ll continue to do/ I know she is coming/ I know she will look/ And that is the longing/ And this is the book”.
-Wordsworth?
-Very close. “Book of Longing” by Leonard Cohen. Heard of him?
-Oh, no, who’s that?
-Sarcasm?
-Sarcasm.

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