Poem
Lars Gustafsson
PARADISE
The swamp, forbidden to enterDangerous depths with purple loosestrife and bitter clover.
The salamanders that we caught
and called ‘water lizards’.
They were supposed to cause warts on fingers
Because they themselves had warts.
Surely extinct now. Who needs them?
Suddenly the boy was twenty years old.
Ahead of him, life,
extending endlessly like the plains of Kurland.
The creeks. The salamanders.
We took it all away.
No one else.
© Translation: 2005, Susan W. Howard
HET PARADIJS
Het moeras, verboden te betredenGevaarlijk diep met kattenstaart en waterplanten.
De salamanders die wij vingen
en ‘waterhagedissen’ noemden.
Ze zouden wratten op je vingers veroorzaken.
Omdat ze zelf vol wratten zaten.
Vast en zeker uitgestorven nu. Wie kan het wat schelen?
Plotseling was het joch twintig jaar.
Voor hem lag het lange leven.
Als de Kurlandse vlakte.
De beek. De salamanders.
Wij waren het die alles wegnamen
Niemand anders.
© Vertaling: 2005, Bernlef
PARADISET
Kärret, förbjudet att beträdaFarligt djupt med fackelblomster och nate.
Salamandrarna som vi fångade
och kallade ‘vattenödlor’.
De ansågs ge vårtor på fingrarna.
Eftersom de själva var vårtiga.
Säkert utdöda nu. Vem bryr sig?
Plötsligt var pojken tjugo år gammal.
Framför honom låg långa livet.
Som kurländska slätten.
Bäcken. Salamandrarna.
Det var vi som tog bort alltsamman
Ingen annan.
Poems
Poems of Lars Gustafsson
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PARADISE
The swamp, forbidden to enterDangerous depths with purple loosestrife and bitter clover.
The salamanders that we caught
and called ‘water lizards’.
They were supposed to cause warts on fingers
Because they themselves had warts.
Surely extinct now. Who needs them?
Suddenly the boy was twenty years old.
Ahead of him, life,
extending endlessly like the plains of Kurland.
The creeks. The salamanders.
We took it all away.
No one else.
© 2005, Susan W. Howard
PARADISE
The swamp, forbidden to enterDangerous depths with purple loosestrife and bitter clover.
The salamanders that we caught
and called ‘water lizards’.
They were supposed to cause warts on fingers
Because they themselves had warts.
Surely extinct now. Who needs them?
Suddenly the boy was twenty years old.
Ahead of him, life,
extending endlessly like the plains of Kurland.
The creeks. The salamanders.
We took it all away.
No one else.
© 2005, Susan W. Howard
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