Seasonal Variety

Actor

I am not the one who dies after all
tonight it is your turn
the roles have changed
I have received the pen
I feel great confusion
words burst open like flower petals
I don't know what to do with them
help you don't help
you couldn't help anyway
you must die tonight
I have a pen
my words open
leaf like flowers
before they are picked
one by one
I write
you speak my words
someone is behind my shoulder, a prompter
just don't forget
you must die it's true
still tonight
tonight it is not
me but I
am the pen
and you
you die​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

I waited for a bear

at the back of the hollow
stone stone stone on top
I lay waiting for a bear
my gaze like untamed
was to drive away people
they have not seen such a thing
I waited for a bear then you came
suddenly quickly
in the distance appeared something like a star
you you signaled
and I did not know then
where that door led to​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Roots of the Rose

summer is over you have covered
the roots of the rose with spruce branches
branchless leafless prickly stems
I will kill you for mercy's sake
the tiger lilies of my rage
have blinded the roses from
sunshine
right now is the whole life
your palaces have sunk into the ground
my dwelling is at the root of a small spruce
I will chop the roses with their roots
from the frozen ground I why do you
merely caress my petals​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Salt of Tears

to me, the sun
you deigned to appear
for the length of a cry I
like supercooled water
if you move now you don't understand
how a small drop
when freezing breaks the stone me
the salt of tears keeps me melted​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Back to the world

the dome of darkness was above you
when I lift it up
dawn begins to break
now you have grieved enough
you can step back into the world
the sun is always the same new love​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

A Warm January

someone plays on a blade of grass
in January, hello!
I move along the street as if underwater
bitten by a predatory fish
my side flashes people watch

sometimes only the journey is felt
wrinkles on the forehead you see
the sun has washed the laundry
the child likes that
I sit down to iron
if you want
to rewrite the world's books​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Lazy days supposedly

lazy days supposedly don't make me laugh
morning is only a line on the palm
after work if it suits you
you can see a newborn star
if you care to look at me
at the night sky of my eyes

When green is gone

the road goes ever deeper into the forest
toward hills which have snow
and blue sky
there is no road really
they reset the calendar
and start from the beginning
in that history
horses do not stand
muzzle against muzzle
trees become full of buzzing
leaves and needles are consumed
and when green is gone
silence follows​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Original poems in Finnish by Ilpo Halo. Translated into English assisted by AI technology. Copyright remains with the author, Ilpo Halo.