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For Jens.

By KRISTIAN LETH.

From Før og efter videnskab (2014)
Translated by Anna Thyregod Wilcks.
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.
It’s a liberating wind
which isn’t cold or cutting
to the bone as such
often do in this country

The forgotten dream of spring
rises from the ice sea
and I get the urge to cry
out of joy but also because
it hurts so terribly to have
gone without it, I’d
forgotten it, I’d forgotten it!

But the wind is strong
and warm and the city almost seems
unfamiliar for a split second
from a distance even Nyhavn
looked romantic as I drove past

I’m speechless today
and these days, I don’t know
what I should say about life
and the fact that you might
lose it

You called it a gift from spring
what a spring gift, you said
I used to think that we were
impossible to knock down, untouchable
but it must have been a dream

I want to weep,
with so many tears that life takes me in its
arms
and lets me fall all the way down
and calmness falls into me

But when I woke this morning
my head was just as heavy
and everything was as yesterday
just even more
and the sun shone through the windows
even though I wasn’t ready for it

There’s no ending
to this poem, I don’t know
if it can be said anymore
it’s a meaningless endeavour

And you won’t read this poem
I don’t say that because I know something
but because you never read poetry

I need to open a window
the flowers on the branches of the trees have
fallen
like omnivorous grasshoppers on a field
in Egypt, I’d forgotten
that it was real
I’d forgotten it

 

 

 

 

Det er en befriende vind
der ikke er kold eller skærer
til benet som sådan nogle
så tit gør i dette land

Forårets glemte drøm
hæver sig op af ishavet
og jeg får lyst til at græde
af glæde men også fordi
det gør så ondt at have
været den foruden, jeg havde
glemt den, jeg havde glemt den!

Men vinden er stærk
og varm og byen virker næsten
fremmed i et splitsekund
selv Nyhavn så på afstand
romantisk ud da jeg kørte forbi

Jeg er målløs i dag
og i disse dage, jeg ved ikke
hvad jeg skal sige om livet
og det at du måske
skal miste det

Du kaldte det en forårsgave
sikke en forårsgave, sagde du
Jeg syntes engang vi var
umulige at ramme, usårlige
men det må have været en drøm

Jeg har lyst til at græde
en gråd hvor livet tager mig i sine arme
og lader mig falde helt sammen
og roen falder ind i mig

Men da jeg vågnede i morges
var mit hoved lige så tungt
og alt var som i går
bare endnu mere
og solen stod ind ad vinduerne
selv om jeg ikke var klar til det

Der er ikke nogen slutning
på det her digt, jeg ved ikke mere
om det kan formuleres
det er et meningsløst forsøg

Og du læser ikke det her digt
det siger jeg ikke fordi jeg ved noget
men fordi du aldrig læser digte

Jeg bliver nødt til at åbne et vindue
blomsterne er faldet på træernes grene
som altædende græshopper på en mark
i Egypten, jeg havde glemt
at det var virkeligt
jeg havde glemt det


KRISTIAN LETH —(b.1980) is an award-winning Danish poet, writer and musician now living in New York. Educated at the Danish Academy of Creative Writing (Forfatterskolen) in Copenhagen, he published his first book of poetry in 2002. Leth has now published eight books in total of which half are books of poetry. His literary career includes works of both fiction and nonfiction and his most recent book, En vej ud af tågen (Gladiator, 2022), is a contemplative combination of a memoir and essay. As a member of the band The William Blakes, Leth writes and sings the lyrics. He has also  released four solo albums and composes scores and soundtracks for films and television.

ANNA THYREGOD WILCKS — (b.1999) is a recent English graduate from the University of York and a translator of Danish. From Denmark originally, she now lives and works in Edinburgh. She is the recipient of a first-time entrant commendation in the open category of the Stephen Spender Prize 2022. Her undergraduate dissertation focused on the works of Danish punk poet Michael Strunge, and it was one of the translations from this dissertation which received a commendation from the Stephen Spender Prize.

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