For breakfast I eat up my vowels, my a e i o u, to which I add from consonants a fricative or two;
After that I move my bowels then write as poets do, and frequently am quite surprised to feel a trill come through.

Wednesday, 11 May 2011

Kupa Ası (Ace of Cups)
A little bit of Turkish: Sirke (vinegar) Bal (Honey) Sinek (Fly, the suit of Clubs in a pack of french suited playing cards) Kupa (Cup, Goblet, Trophy; the suit of Hearts in a pack of french suited playing cards)






Bir fıçı sirkeden ziyade bir damla bal ile sinek tutulur. 
One drop of honey is worth more than a vat of of vinegar to catch a fly.


The image of the Ace of Cups above is from a 1910 pack of tarot cards produced by Pamela Colman Smith for Arthur Edward Waite. For a modern reproduction I recommend the Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set.
Para Beşlisi (Five of Coins)
A little bit of Turkish: Olmak (to be) Etmek (to do, make; to be worth, to amount to) -sız (meaning 'without' ) -mez (suffix of negation)




beş parasız - lit. without five pennies, fig. penniless
beş paralık olmak/etmek - lit. to be/to do five pennies worth, fig. to expose shameful secrets
beş para etmez - lit. not worth five pennies, fig. of something that is trashy, worthless.


The image of the Five of Coins above is from a 1910 pack of tarot cards produced by Pamela Colman Smith for Arthur Edward Waite. For a modern reproduction I recommend the Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set.

Encased within the barber's cape my eyes fall heavy beneath the soothing stroke of brush and fingers and I am immersed in the vibrations of the buzzing clippers, the swift snip and snap of scissors tap-tapping against the teeth of comb, the puppetry of hand and head as he shapes me for the scrape of the razor, the intimate trimming of eyebrows, ears and nose. A flick of flame and smell of burning hair lift me out of my submersion. "Tamam?" he asks. "Çok iyi" I reply, "çok iyi".


clipped peeks
of the barber's bum
in the mirror




A little bit of Turkish: Berber (Barber) Ucun (the tip, end) -dan (suffix meaning from) Az (Little)


Ucundan azıcık
At the barber's "just a trim'.


lit. 'a little from the tip.'


Outside of the barbershop the phrase may cause some hilarity, not sure why, but I suspect it has something to do with circumcision.

Tuesday, 10 May 2011

Para Onlusu (Ten of Coins/Money)
A little bit of Turkish: Mutluluk (Happiness, Well-being, Bliss) Zenginlik (Wealth, Prosperity, Riches) Aptal (Fool, Stupid, Idiot, Dumb) Rüyalar (Dreams) Bilge (Wise, Sage)




Zenginlik aptal rüyalar; Bilge bir adam, mutluluk.
A fool dreams of wealth; a wise man of happiness.


An alternative name for the Ten of Coins in Turkish:
Tılsımlar Onlusus - Ten of Talismans
The term 'tılsımlar' (talismans) is used on some RWS decks (and its clones) as a translation of 'pentacles'.


The image of the Ten of Pentacles above is from a 1910 pack of tarot cards produced by Pamela Colman Smith for Arthur Edward Waite. For a modern reproduction I recommend the Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set.

Dragons
My dragon’s woken up again,
and grown very big.
It’s riding on the hand-wagon
slick with oil and spit —
a genie from its bottle moans
do it do it DO IT!

My dragon’s woken up again,
and eager to dig: 
to bury stones like dogs with bones
(marrow sucked — flesh ripped).
In blood and dung the bottle, warmed,
is cracked: the genie… SPLIT.

A little bit of (rude) Turkish: Ejderha (lit. Dragon, fig. slang for Penis) Şişe (lit.Bottle, fig. slang for Anus)
El arabası (wheelbarrow, trolley, hand wagon/cart - 'to ride the hand-wagon' slang for masturbation) Fondip (lit. from the bottom, in drinking games, to drink a shot in one go; in sexual slang 'do it' (f**k me))

Benim ejderham, yine uyandı var
ve çok büyük büyüdü. 
O el arabası biniyor 
yağlı ve şiş ile kaygan - 
onun şişeden bir cin inliyor 
fondip fondip fondip!


A little bit more turkish: Şiş (Spit, Swollen, Skewer) Yağ (Oil) 
Inlemek (to moan) Yine (Again)