Books from Finland - A literary journal of writing from and about Finland.

A selection of poems. Introduction by Erkka Lehtola

the wind
blew the clouds to travel
across heaven
the fire to speak

our gods
together with us
the same joy
dreamed dreams
the sun’s progress
along the highways
the moon in the vent-hole
aurora borealis
heaven’s stars

they were the ones who themselves
knew everything
had everything
considered they stood above life itself

our grandmothers
followed time’s signs
taught us
how many months to a year

the guests had one month less
they do not speak nature’s language

birds, birds
we were
twittering of the bird
under blue high heaven

and the wind,
the wind carried along with it
the wind carried away

life was fond of us, the sun
in heaven’s space
and the earth
sought in its arms
gifts
the reindeer roamed the salmon climbed
grouse laughed the geese flew
the cloudberry ripened

if a part of these heights
becomes water
the air breathes
in the north

Translated (from Swedish) by David McDuff