Poem
Steinar Opstad
Graveyard
You say that you will grow weakif 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.
© Translation: 2000, Steinar Opstad and Anthony Barnett
Gravlund
Gravlund
Du sier at du blir matthvis 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.
© 2000, Steinar Opstad
From: Analfabetisk
Publisher: Kolon Forlag, Oslo
From: Analfabetisk
Publisher: Kolon Forlag, Oslo
Poems
Poems of Steinar Opstad
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Graveyard
You say that you will grow weakif 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.
© 2000, Steinar Opstad and Anthony Barnett
From: Analfabetisk
From: Analfabetisk
Graveyard
You say that you will grow weakif 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.
© 2000, Steinar Opstad and Anthony Barnett
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