Azad Yashar (Azerbaijan)

a poet, translator, essayist, architect, artist, and one of the most prominent figures among Azerbaijani representatives of postmodernism and conceptualism. His poems have been translated and published in 10 foreign languages. Yashari has authored 20 books, including poetry collections such as “Everyone and No One” (2003) and “Concept” (2016), which feature both poems and the author’s graphic artworks.

He has translated works by approximately 650 authors from world literature into Azerbaijani. Yashari has worked as an architect in Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation; for many years, he was the chief editor of the newspaper “Pensioner” of the State Social Protection Fund. He is also one of the founders of the Independent Writers’ Union of Azerbaijan (AYO, 2001) and its journal “Alatoran.” He has participated in two national exhibitions, showcasing his calligraphic compositions.

 

REAL MEANING OF THE LIFE

When we came to this world

We saw a long line

Long as a Great Wall of China and

A living human wall…

 

“What is distributed?”

We asked them curiously

But no answer came from anyone.

And lips’ locked chain were not opened

Everyone was gloomy

Everyone was frustrated.

 

We stood in a queue desperately,

We thought:

These guys know why they are here

They are not here in vain.

 

And when we reached

We understood that we stand on the death shift

We like everyone else.

 

Everything has done so quickly…

Everything has so far gone so far…

 

Translated by Esmira Serova