Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Steinar Opstad

Graveyard

You say that you will grow weak
if I touch you too much
and that I should take a step away
and around us there’s no single person,
but whole crowds and groups
The sun shines in people’s brains,
not on heaven
and the gravel paths are groundless

Her name was ‘Mother’, you say,
not this name in delicate letters
Sorrow is overpraised and I say
“Let us go our own ways”
I read words like ‘angel’ and ‘holy’
and later: a white sheet of paper
on which no name is listed, not your own
not your mother’s, but mine
and I have been drawn in
as a figure: A son.

Gravlund

Gravlund

Du sier at du blir matt
hvis jeg tar for mye på deg
og at jeg bør gå noen skritt unna
og rundt oss går ikke enkeltmennesker,
men hele selskap og grupper
Solen lyser i hjernen på folk,
ikke på himmelen
og grusgangene er bunnløse

Hun het ‘Mor’, sier du,
ikke dette navnet i sirlig skrift
Sorg er oppskrytt og jeg sier
“La oss gå hver til vårt”
Jeg leser ord som ‘engel’ og ‘hellig’
og senere: et hvitt ark
der ikke noe navn står oppført
ikke ditt, ikke din mors, men mitt
og jeg er blitt tegnet inn
som en skikkelse: En sønn.
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Graveyard

You say that you will grow weak
if I touch you too much
and that I should take a step away
and around us there’s no single person,
but whole crowds and groups
The sun shines in people’s brains,
not on heaven
and the gravel paths are groundless

Her name was ‘Mother’, you say,
not this name in delicate letters
Sorrow is overpraised and I say
“Let us go our own ways”
I read words like ‘angel’ and ‘holy’
and later: a white sheet of paper
on which no name is listed, not your own
not your mother’s, but mine
and I have been drawn in
as a figure: A son.

Graveyard

You say that you will grow weak
if I touch you too much
and that I should take a step away
and around us there’s no single person,
but whole crowds and groups
The sun shines in people’s brains,
not on heaven
and the gravel paths are groundless

Her name was ‘Mother’, you say,
not this name in delicate letters
Sorrow is overpraised and I say
“Let us go our own ways”
I read words like ‘angel’ and ‘holy’
and later: a white sheet of paper
on which no name is listed, not your own
not your mother’s, but mine
and I have been drawn in
as a figure: A son.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère