THE STRANGEST CREATURE IN THE WORLD
My Dear Brother,
You are in deep darkness like a scorpion.
You are anxious and alert like a sparrow.
You are calm and comfortable like a mussel,
And you are dreaded like a dormant volcano.
My Dear Brother,
You are not one, not five
But in millions unfortunately.
When the drover raises his stick,
You immediately join the flock
And proudly go to the slaughterhouse like a sheep.
My Dear Brother,
You are the strangest creature in the world.
You are more stranger than the fish
Being in the sea, without knowing the sea.
My Dear Brother,
You create this suffering in the world.
If we are hungry, tired, in bloodshed
And still being crushed like grapes
To produce our wine.
I don't want to say it is your fault,
But it is mostly your fault my Dear Brother.
Nazım Hikmet
Translated from Turkish by G G Gench