27/03/2026
For İsmet Özel, his father’s words 'Man is the noblest of creatures' remained background noise until pain and life forced him to 'reinterpret' water, fire, and earth.
His poem 'Amentü' (I Believe) is the diary of a rebirth.
Using the term "noblest of creatures" correctly mirrors the Turkish concept of Eşref-i Mahlûkât.
Translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat (From "The Blind Mouse" / "Eda: An Anthology of Contemporary Turkish Poetry")
Man
is the noblest of creatures, my father used to say
these words had a place among other words
but one September day when I slit my wrists
these words grasped their true meaning
passed through madness, boils, and advertisements
passed the greedy merchant called history
seeping through the cracks of darkened numbers
these words descended to my heart
the vein is cut, the blood will flow
but when the blood stops, it gushes warm from the vein
burning words poured out
into my belly and chest for love
the medicine I applied for death suddenly flew away
love and death for me once more
water and fire and earth
were reinterpreted.
(...)
Life
is sustained by four things, my father used to say
water and fire and earth.
And wind.
I added the last one myself later
the pitch-black fear of fired clay
I passed the bumps of the raw heart
injecting my body into the worlds
I existed by the grace of the Creator
what the noblest of creatures is
I have learned.
İsmet Özel
