Poem
Jan Erik Vold
Mirror Doesn’t Know. Ocean Knows
Templebells
ringing. Buddha smiles. Jesus
bleeds. Buddha
talks
about
suffering. Jesus
about
salvation. Buddha
talks about the road. Jesus
about
the goal.
*
Buddha
says: It hurts
all
the
time. Jesus
says: At the end
salvation
will come. Buddha says: At best
the
deleatur
of
everything.
*
Water
won’t
change
its mind. Water doesn’t have
to
be
asked
twice. Water
follows
the thermometer. Ice. Liquid. Steam.
What
do I care?
*
Cloud.
Sea.
Glacier. What did I
care? Water
rising. Water
sinking. Water will polish
every
thing
round. What's jagged
becomes
round. What's jagged becomes round. Then
the light went out.
*
He was shooting
in order
to kill. He fastened
his bomb belt
in order to
kill. His thought
is on
the trigger, on the
release. That is no
thought.
That is
compulsion.
*
We murder the
mountain
people
by compulsion. The mountain people
murder
us
by
compulsion. We
because we have ideas. Ideas
are made
of air.
The mountain people belong.
*
Cliff wall
against
cliff wall, and you’ll
have
an echo? But when one mountain
blows
the other
into pieces? Or blows
itself into pieces? Then you must
retreat into caves
and wait. Until the mountain can be shaped
into a pyramid.
*
The lowest
is the
highest, in the mirror's
reflection. But when the mirror
is
broken? The mirror
can’t
be
broken, can’t be broken, can’t
be
broken. If it is
an ocean.
*
The mirror
can’t
be shattered
by a
long-range scope rifle. The mirror
can
only
rise. Or
sink. If the mirror sinks, we will
all
rise, upside
down.
*
If the mirror
rises, we will
all
drown, for real. Not each
and every
one. Only the poor. When the
poor
vanish, others will
appear. In the end
it’ll be
our
turn.
*
When the
Empire State Building
beams
like a lighthouse in the ocean. Then
we’ll
know
what
the word
TERROR means.
Then
there’ll be
no need for martyr pilots.
*
We keep quiet
about
what
we
know. The wise
keep quiet. The
dumb
keep quiet. There is no difference
between dumb
and
wise. Mirror
doesn’t know. Ocean knows.
© Translation: 2011, Jan Erik Vold
SPEILET VET IKKE. HAVET VET
SPEILET VET IKKE. HAVET VET
Tempelklokkene klang. Buddha
smiler. Jesus
blør. Buddha
snakker
om
lidelse. Jesus
om
frelse. Buddha
snakker om veien. Jesus
om
målet
*
Buddha
sier: Det gjør
vondt
hele
tiden. Jesus
sier: Til slutt
kommer
himmeriket. Buddha sier: I beste
fall
alle
tings
deleatur.
*
Vannet
om
bestemmer
seg ikke. Vannet
lar seg ikke
be
to
ganger. Vannet
følger
gradestokken. Is. Væske. Damp.
What
do I care?
*
Sky.
Sjø.
Glacière. What did I
care? Vannet
stiger. Vannet
sank. Vannet sliper
alle
ting
runde. Det skarpe
blir
rundt. Det skarpe blir rundt. Så
gikk lyset.
*
Han skjøt om seg
for å
drepe. Han spente bombebeltet
fast
for å
drepe. Hans tanke
ligger i
avtrekkeren, i
utløseren. Det er ingen
tanke.
Det
er tvang.
*
Vi dreper
fjell
folket
av tvang. Fjellfolket
dreper
oss
av
tvang. Vi
fordi vi har ideer. Ideer
er av
luft.
Fjellfolket bor.
*
Klippevegg
mot
klippevegg, så blir det
et
ekko? Men når det ene fjellet
sprenger
det andre
i filler? Eller sprenger
seg selv i filler? Da blir det å krype
ned i huler
og vente. Til berget kan formes
til en pyramide.
*
Den laveste
er den
høyeste, speil
vendt. Men når speilet
er
knust? Speilet
kan
ikke
knuses, kan ikke knuses, kan
ikke
knuses. Dersom det er
et hav.
*
Speilet
kan ikke
kikkertsiktesprenges
i
biter. Speilet
kan
bare
stige. Eller
synke. Synker speilet, stiger
vi
alle, opp
ned.
*
Stiger
speilet, drukner
vi, på
riktig. Ikke
vi
alle. Bare de fattige. Når de
fattige
forsvinner, kommer nye
til. Til slutt
er
det
vår tur.
*
Når Empire State
tindrer
som
et fyrtårn i havet. Da
ser
vi
hva
ordet
TERROR betød.
Da
behøves
ingen martyrpiloter.
*
Vi tier
om
det
vi
vet. De kloke
tier. De
dumme
tier. Det er ingen forskjell
på dum
og
klok. Speilet
vet ikke. Havet vet.
© 2011, Jan Erik Vold
From: Store hvite bok å se
Publisher: Gyldendal, Oslo
From: Store hvite bok å se
Publisher: Gyldendal, Oslo
Poems
Poems of Jan Erik Vold
Close
Mirror Doesn’t Know. Ocean Knows
Templebells
ringing. Buddha smiles. Jesus
bleeds. Buddha
talks
about
suffering. Jesus
about
salvation. Buddha
talks about the road. Jesus
about
the goal.
*
Buddha
says: It hurts
all
the
time. Jesus
says: At the end
salvation
will come. Buddha says: At best
the
deleatur
of
everything.
*
Water
won’t
change
its mind. Water doesn’t have
to
be
asked
twice. Water
follows
the thermometer. Ice. Liquid. Steam.
What
do I care?
*
Cloud.
Sea.
Glacier. What did I
care? Water
rising. Water
sinking. Water will polish
every
thing
round. What's jagged
becomes
round. What's jagged becomes round. Then
the light went out.
*
He was shooting
in order
to kill. He fastened
his bomb belt
in order to
kill. His thought
is on
the trigger, on the
release. That is no
thought.
That is
compulsion.
*
We murder the
mountain
people
by compulsion. The mountain people
murder
us
by
compulsion. We
because we have ideas. Ideas
are made
of air.
The mountain people belong.
*
Cliff wall
against
cliff wall, and you’ll
have
an echo? But when one mountain
blows
the other
into pieces? Or blows
itself into pieces? Then you must
retreat into caves
and wait. Until the mountain can be shaped
into a pyramid.
*
The lowest
is the
highest, in the mirror's
reflection. But when the mirror
is
broken? The mirror
can’t
be
broken, can’t be broken, can’t
be
broken. If it is
an ocean.
*
The mirror
can’t
be shattered
by a
long-range scope rifle. The mirror
can
only
rise. Or
sink. If the mirror sinks, we will
all
rise, upside
down.
*
If the mirror
rises, we will
all
drown, for real. Not each
and every
one. Only the poor. When the
poor
vanish, others will
appear. In the end
it’ll be
our
turn.
*
When the
Empire State Building
beams
like a lighthouse in the ocean. Then
we’ll
know
what
the word
TERROR means.
Then
there’ll be
no need for martyr pilots.
*
We keep quiet
about
what
we
know. The wise
keep quiet. The
dumb
keep quiet. There is no difference
between dumb
and
wise. Mirror
doesn’t know. Ocean knows.
© 2011, Jan Erik Vold
From: Store hvite bok å se
From: Store hvite bok å se
Mirror Doesn’t Know. Ocean Knows
Templebells
ringing. Buddha smiles. Jesus
bleeds. Buddha
talks
about
suffering. Jesus
about
salvation. Buddha
talks about the road. Jesus
about
the goal.
*
Buddha
says: It hurts
all
the
time. Jesus
says: At the end
salvation
will come. Buddha says: At best
the
deleatur
of
everything.
*
Water
won’t
change
its mind. Water doesn’t have
to
be
asked
twice. Water
follows
the thermometer. Ice. Liquid. Steam.
What
do I care?
*
Cloud.
Sea.
Glacier. What did I
care? Water
rising. Water
sinking. Water will polish
every
thing
round. What's jagged
becomes
round. What's jagged becomes round. Then
the light went out.
*
He was shooting
in order
to kill. He fastened
his bomb belt
in order to
kill. His thought
is on
the trigger, on the
release. That is no
thought.
That is
compulsion.
*
We murder the
mountain
people
by compulsion. The mountain people
murder
us
by
compulsion. We
because we have ideas. Ideas
are made
of air.
The mountain people belong.
*
Cliff wall
against
cliff wall, and you’ll
have
an echo? But when one mountain
blows
the other
into pieces? Or blows
itself into pieces? Then you must
retreat into caves
and wait. Until the mountain can be shaped
into a pyramid.
*
The lowest
is the
highest, in the mirror's
reflection. But when the mirror
is
broken? The mirror
can’t
be
broken, can’t be broken, can’t
be
broken. If it is
an ocean.
*
The mirror
can’t
be shattered
by a
long-range scope rifle. The mirror
can
only
rise. Or
sink. If the mirror sinks, we will
all
rise, upside
down.
*
If the mirror
rises, we will
all
drown, for real. Not each
and every
one. Only the poor. When the
poor
vanish, others will
appear. In the end
it’ll be
our
turn.
*
When the
Empire State Building
beams
like a lighthouse in the ocean. Then
we’ll
know
what
the word
TERROR means.
Then
there’ll be
no need for martyr pilots.
*
We keep quiet
about
what
we
know. The wise
keep quiet. The
dumb
keep quiet. There is no difference
between dumb
and
wise. Mirror
doesn’t know. Ocean knows.
© 2011, Jan Erik Vold
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