Dark Earth

by Aşık Veysel (Turkish original – Sivas, Turkey)
by David Selim Sayers and Evrim Emir-Sayers (English translation – Paris, France)

THIS translation is of the poem “Kara Toprak” by the Alevi folk poet and bard Aşık Veysel (1894-1973).¹ You can hear it performed by Aşık Veysel himself at this link.

Believing them friends, I embraced all who came
My faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone
I wandered until I grew weary in vain
My faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

The beauties I clung to were many in name
Among them I found neither virtue nor gain
None but the earth could my wishes sustain
My faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

The milk it provided, the lamb and the ewe
The bread it provided, the meat and the stew
How faint it provided when not beaten through
My faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

From Adam, it carried my kin to this day
Fruits of all sorts it gave freely away
It shouldered my weight every step of the way
My faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

I plowed through its belly with pick and with spade
I tore up its face with my nails like a blade
And yet it received me with roses, unswayed
My faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

It smiled at me even as I made it bleed
I tell you no lie, that much all must concede
It gave me four fields when I gave it one seed
My faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

If I tend to the skies, all I’ll get is hot air
If I tend to the ground, I will merit a prayer
If I part with the ground, I’ll go I don’t know where
My faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

If you have any wish you’d like God to fulfill
Don’t stray from the earth and receive it you will
The earth shares its bounty by way of Her will
My faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

If it’s truth that you’re looking for, one thing is clear
We all are in God, to Her creatures She’s near
The earth holds the treasures that She holds so dear
My faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

My every blemish the earth does conceal
Anoints me with lotions, my bruises to heal
Both arms outstretched, it awaits me with zeal
My faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

Whoever it is that deciphers this rune
Will leave to this world a perpetual boon
It’ll draw old Veysel to its chest someday soon
My faithful beloved’s the dark earth alone

Also by Aşık Veysel:

• I’m on a Long and Narrow Road
• Let My Friends Remember Me
• The One Who Sees This World Is You

^{1. The word aşık (Arabic for “lover”) denotes a wandering bard inspired by mystical love.↑}