Appendix
I was becoming like a worn impression of myself.
I was noticing the things my own hands etc. had done.
I seldom spoke, if at all.
An old story was all I had to tell anyone.
Or I would describe places, contorting my face.
Plus I was drinking.
What's more, I was drinking hard liquor
Sometimes on or two glasses,
Sometimes from morning to night without stopping.
There's no doubt about it, darling,
I was saying,
The hotel is sinking! The hotel is sinking!
More importantly, it was as if I had been introduced to someone
As the historian of certain events
Cared about by absolutely no one.
-Edip Cansever
Translated from the Turkish by Richard Tilinghast and Julia Clare Tilinghast
About the Author
Edip Cansever (1928-1986) was a leading member of the Ikinci Yeni (Second New) group of poets who lived and worked in Istanbul.
