Poem

Lennart Sjögren

Side by side

THE AXE

It’s getting dark
and the footsteps like so much else
sink below the pavements.
Someone opens the window
and asks challengingly
where the axe is.

What do I reply to a question like that?

DE BIJL

Het schemert
en voetstappen verzinken
als zoveel anders onder de stoepen.
Iemand opent het raam
en vraagt op dwingende toon
waar de bijl staat.

Wat moet ik antwoorden op een dergelijke vraag?

YXAN

Det skymmer
och fotstegen som så mycket annat
sjunker under trottoarerna.
Någon öppnar fönstret
och frågar uppfordrande
var yxan star.

Vad ska jag svara på en sådan fråga?

Lennart Sjögren

(Sweden, 1930)

Lennart Sjögren was born in the village of Böda on the Swedish island of Öland in the Baltic and to this very day lives on the former farm of his parents, down by the shore. During the 1950s, he studied for a while at the Gothenburg Academy of Art, where he met his wife, the artist Eva Forsberg, who has illustrated much of his work. In 1959, he made his debut as a poet. Apart from poetry, Sjögr...

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Poems of Lennart Sjögren

THE AXE

It’s getting dark
and the footsteps like so much else
sink below the pavements.
Someone opens the window
and asks challengingly
where the axe is.

What do I reply to a question like that?

THE AXE

It’s getting dark
and the footsteps like so much else
sink below the pavements.
Someone opens the window
and asks challengingly
where the axe is.

What do I reply to a question like that?