Deli Memet, the crazy wind of Gökova
Born from Gökova, from Gökova’s sea
From the seahorses, from the breath of the seahorses
Once out of the sea and stepping in the air
He runs to the lowland
He climbs up to the sky, to the stars and the moon
He falls flat on the ground, then he gets to his feet
He grabs the cap of the peasant from his head
He retreats to Sakar (the peak of Sakar Mountain)
Then by throwing the cap down from Sakar
While the cap was soaring like a bird
and descending towards Gökova
After it, comes Deli Memet
A summer day,
This Deli Memet is the night frost in the middle of the day
Be him either a Northeaster or a Northwest wind?
Laughter, cries, eye sores
Boughs, leaves flutter around in front of me
When Deli Memet blows
Doors and windows are to be closed
The kids hide in houses
Chimneys hit the dirt
The smell of the smoke, barking of the dogs
This Deli Memet picks up the Mediterranean Sea with one hand
With the other the Aegean
The smell of the sea is to be withdrawn from the streets
Then
Deli Memet goes up and sits at the head of Sakar
Waiting things to happen
Seahorses in Gökova, the breath of the seahorses
Running?
Falling into place and standing up
Flying or ascending the sky?
The kites with broken thread
Swimming?
The fish in the sea escaping the fishing line
Deli Memet ran, Deli Memet fell down
By escaping from the fishing rod he went deep down…
Deli Memet got out of the sea and flew
He got mixed with the soil after the water and the air after the soil
Deli Memet blew and gone
The swollen waters withdrew
Dust and smoke settled
The leaves returned to their boughs
The doors and windows were opened
The streets met with children again
The burn in the palm of Halet
Turned into a carnation and bloomed
Then poems
Then zeibeks, songs, dances…
*“Halet Abla Destanı / Elder Sister Halet’s Epic”, the life story of renowned archeologist Prof. Dr. Halet Çambel and her husband, starts with the description of a poem in which a gust blowing in the Aegean Sea / Gökova Bay, a kind of wind named by the people as “Deli (Crazy) Memet. This section taken from the same book is named after the wind god and goddess in mythology and shortened for the “Olympos Letters”.