Monday, 7 March 2022

Thor Sørheim: 'Ikke langt nok ned'



NOT FAR ENOUGH DOWN

 

The dead have something to say.

A graveyard on Svalbard

which left the young dead with their virus

and betrayal to the keeping of the permafrost

could have been the place

that revealed the secret of the Spanish flu.

 

The dead had their crosses removed.

With solemn care and knife the researchers

cut their way down to the Spanish flu’s victims

who were said to have placed a virus on ice

while drawing their last breath.

 

The dead were taken up in vain.

Not even Svalbard’s cold earth

was enough to hold onto the moment of death.

The dead did not come far enough down.

With the force of their empty lungs

they praised the fragile beauty

called life, and remained silent about our death.

No comments: