Poem by the Norwegian writer Inger Elisabeth Hansen (b. 1951)

Den høye og den lave mor

Hun sier:

«Mitt råd er dette:

Det gjelder å holde reven
mett

og høna hel. »

Et hellig moderbryst holder himmelen oppe.

Dette berget har alle besteget

og glemt. Selv Herren sover

på sin trone av melk.

Jeg snur meg.

Jeg vender brystene ned.

Jeg bøyer meg under barnet.

Et barn kan drikke seg opp til øyne

som våkner i skyenes melk.

Jeg husker Herren slik han ble skapt.

Ordet var hos meg før ham.

The high and the low mother

She says:

‘My advice is this:

You must keep the fox well-fed

and the hen in one piece.’

A holy mother’s breast holds up the heavens.

This mountain all have climbed

and forgotten. Even the Lord sleeps

on his throne of milk.

I turn round.

I turn my breasts downward.

I bow down to the child.

A child can drink up to eyes

that awake in the milk of the clouds.

I remember the Lord as he was created.

The word was with me before him.