Sunday, 23 October 2011

Poem from the collection 'Oh, Paradise' by the Norwegian writer Mona Høvring


THE GIRL FROM THE MUSSEL RESTAURANT

We are attractively wretched, you and I,
as thirteen-year-old girls when we wake up.

Late in the day we sound out the bare rocks,
slip on the kelp, sit on the salt-white surface,
and cling onto what could be called our house.

If we were stinging jellyfish we would
possibly have a greater understanding of water.

And we think of the same thing, you and I,
in cheerful disgust, in sucking shame −
seductive and aromatic,
leaning against a pinball machine.

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