Recall – Sfarda L. Gül
Maúron Thálassa. Ucha Zugha. and Vits’e smelled of pakhlava,
Kiršnas Mári. Sew Dzov. loukoúmi, paponi.
Did I recall correctly?
My máti stares at me Halvás tastes of childhood.
from a needle pinning From حلوا (halvâ), if I recall?
to my wall the map of a land Only sunflower—the kind my
my feet are yet to tread upon, northern siblings favour.
warding off the jealous blue-eyed My ancestors’ Anatolian tongue
glares I doubt are there at all. craves the sesame of fasting on
Yet my feet recall that soil from Great Lent. The peanut of escape to
immemorial centuries gone by Argentina from the Ottoman sword.
when sycamore and lime scattered My máti stares,
the grassland of that old plateau asking me, ‘do you recall?’
The poem you just read is peppered with unfamiliar foreign words. The very opening lines are several translations of “Black Sea”, including in Pontic, Laz, Proto-Balto-Slavic, and Armenian respectively: Maúron Thálassa (Μαύρον Θάλασσα), Ucha Zugha (Uça Zuğa/უჩა ზუღა), Kiršnas Mári (Киршнас Мари), Sew Dzov (Սեւ Ծով)—all languages of incredible importance to the author. Máti (μάτι) means “eye” in Greek, a term also used for the blue glass Evil Eye bead which holds incredible importance to SWANA and Mediterranean cultures (and unfortunately faces much appropriation). Vits’e is an indigenous Laz town in Rize Province, modern-day occupied Türkiye (now Turkified into "Fındıklı"). Pakhlava is baklava, loukoúmi is lokum (i.e. “Turkish” delight), and paponi is the Laz form of galaktoboureko, all of which are Anatolian desserts. Chalvás (χαλβάς) is a Greek form of halva stemming from the Persian halvâ (حلوا), a type of dessert most commonly made from sesame or sunflower seeds following oil extraction. The peanut halva referenced in the poem, called mantecol, emerged in 20th century Argentina from Greek immigrants.
Sfarda L. Gül is a queer (she/him), immigrant polyglot artist, poet, and fiction writer of indigenous Anatolian and minority Baltoslavic background. Her work has previously been featured in Musing Publications, From Heart to Stomach, and a Türkiye-Syria earthquake relief fundraiser zine among others. In her spare time, she is enthralled in the study of ethnography, linguistics, history, and social activism aiding to uplift queer and ethnic minorities of her native SWANA and Eastern Europe. Find her on Instagram @sfar.da, and on Substack @Sfar L. Gül writing “Lacrimosity and Righteous Rage”.
