Neist Point
Finally found somewhere to sit on the grass
among the minefield of sheep dung
right on the edge of the cliff
– aren’t they ever afraid?
Below me
fulmars’ wings cutting the rocks at all angles
their cries joining others’ I cannot name
The rest is blue
first crisp
then hazy across the Minch
Searching the perfect mirror of the sea
for minkes and porpoises
out of habit really
not of hope
a simple calm washes over me
Lately
my dread of death
has returned with a vengeance
But here
it’s okay
Under this bright sun
unexpected on the Misty Isle
soothed by the smell of dung
becoming compost for the grass for the sheep
I too can melt into this cliff
It is okay
Şebnem Susam-Saraeva is a Senior Lecturer in Translation Studies at the University of Edinburgh. She is the author of Translation and Popular Music: Transcultural Intimacy in Turkish-Greek Relations (2015) and Theories on the Move: Translation’s Role in the Travels of Literary Theories (2006). Her literary translations include the 2017 Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day into Turkish. She is the winner of PEN Wales Translation Challenge 2017 with her poetry translation from Küçük İskender.