Jamaica dogumlu Amerikali sair Louis Aston Marantz Simpson’in dogum yildonumu (27 Mart 1923)
Migferleri, silahlari, cikin ve kabanlari ile
gectiler bir ormandan, ilerlerde bir yerde
silahlar gumburdedi. Boynu cevreleyen cembercesine
her yanda kirmiziya boyaniyordu gece.
Durdular ve kazdilar. Birer kostebek misali
agaclarin altindaki camurlu topraga coktuler.
cok gecmeden siperlerde ki nobetciler
fark ettiler ilk kari, donmaya baslamisti ayaklari.
Ilk bomba gurultuyle dustu safak vakti.
Taradi karli ormani bombalarla kursunlar,
uzun gunler boyunca. Simsiyahti artik karlar.
Kirmizi basliklari icinde cesetler dondular.
O muharebeden en cok aklimda kalan
gozlerdeki yorgunluk ve bir sigarayi saran
ellerin nasil ince durdugu ve o parlayan korun
nasil koruklendigi son nefeslerle geride kalan.
Helmet and rifle, pack and overcoat
Marched through a forest. Somewhere up ahead
Guns thudded. Like the circle of a throat
The night on every side was turning red.
They halted and they dug. They sank like moles
into the clammy earth between the trees.
And soon the sentries, standing in their holes,
Felt the first snow. Their feet began to freeze.
At dawn the first shell landed with a crack.
Then shells and bullets swept the icy woods.
This lasted many days. The snow was black.
The corpses stiffened in their scarlet hoods.
Most clearly of that battle I remember
The tiredness in eyes, how hands looked thin
Around a cigarette, and the bright ember
Would pulse with all the life there was within.

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