Two Humans

Written by Mehmet Ismail

Translated from the Azerbaijani by the poet

Narrated by Bill Wolak

Azerbaijan

That day, the earth entered into a new phase,

Fate became mercy. 

Who knows when and where they met

Our father Adam and our mother Eve?

The storm changes from rain to snow,

Many winters, many springs pass through our lives.

For the road from grandfather to grandson

There is also a return from grandson to grandfather.

The roots of the human tree stretch very deep

Even the world empties and fills again.

But there are only two humans on the earth,

Only two humans: Adam and Eve!

Mehmet Ismail was born in Azerbaijan. His works have been translated into more than fifty languages ​​from around the world. More than forty of his books have been published in Azerbaijan, Germany, Russia, Japan, France, Turkey, Iran, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Moldova and Kosovo. He is a member of the European Academy of Sciences, Literature and Art; the Ukrainian Academy of Higher Education; and the Romanian Academy of Constanta Tomitane. He was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor of the Ukrainian Academy of Higher Education. In addition, he was awarded the following: the Golden Pen (Azerbaijan), the Ostrovsky Literary Prize (Russia), and the Literary Prize of the Foundation of Writers and Artists of Turkey (Turkey). He became the winner of a poetry competition organized by the Religious Foundation of Turkey. The Literaturnaya Gazeta, published in Moldova, honored him with the Poetry Prize of the Year. Also, he received the Azem Shkreli (Kosovo) Prize (2018), the Writers’ Union of Russia. I. F. Annensky (2018), and the International Competition named after Mahmut Kashkari (2019). He has participated in poetry festivals in Italy, Hungary, Germany, Russia, Romania, and South Korea. The Canakkale Poetry Academy annually awards new poets with the Mehmed Ismail Literary Prize, which is presented in Canakkale, Turkey. Currently, he is a professor at Canakkale University in Turkey.