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3 poems by Jon Ståle Ritland translated into English by Vilde Bjerke Torset and Harry Man


Breathing exercise


wrinkled hands rifle through berries

for a late summer birthday cake

the maggot-eaten raspberries set aside

the little life there, organisms too small

for the naked eye live on

in the compost bucket, they too are related

to some origin


soon the cake candles will be

blown out with nitrogen and carbon dioxide

a celebration of impermanence

the yearly breathing exercise

gets heavier each year



Pusteøvelse


rynkete hender renser bær

til bursdagskaken på sensommeren

de markspiste bringebærene blir lagt til side

det lille livet der, organismer for små

for våre øyne lever videre

i kompostbøtta, også de i slekt

med det opprinnelige


om ikke lenge skal lysene på kaken

blåses ut av kvelstoff og karbondioksid

en feiring av forgjengeligheten

den årlige pusteøvelsen

blir tyngre for hvert år



Footprints in the Clouds


in the fuel cell of a jet engine

dreams are made to come true


you gaze into the lap of heaven

through the cabin window, no gods


to be seen, the carbon footprints leave behind

invisible footprints, you think it’s possible still


to change course, the flight attendant asks

if you want seconds



Fotspor i himmelen


i jetmotorenes brenselsceller

gjøres drømmer til virkelighet


du stirrer inn i himmelriket

gjennom kabinruta, ingen guder


er å skue, karbonavtrykkene ligger igjen

usynlige fotspor, du tenker det fortsatt er mulig


å endre kursen, flyvertinnen spør

om du vil ha påfyll



Portrait


every doubt is a balance

between hope and experience

your shadow dances each time

you look away


the earthworm swallows the darkness

makes air pockets in the earth

its biography a void


where roots can spread

a charcoal sketch has captured a contrast

behind frame and glass, you step

from your own shadow, from now on

only art moves you



Portrett


enhver tvil balanserer

mellom erfaring og håp

skyggen din danser hver gang

du kikker en annen vei


meitemarken svelger mørket

lager lommer av luft i jorden

dens biografi er tomrom

der røtter kan finne feste


en kullskisse har fanget kontrastene

bak glass og ramme, du trer ut

av din egen skygge, heretter kan bare


kunsten bevege deg


_______________

Jon Ståle Ritland (Drammen, 1968) is a poet and ophthalmologist with a PhD in medical science. He has published five collections of poetry including Kroppsvisitasjoner (‘Body Searches’) 2004, Vannmerker (‘Watermarks’) 2009 and I bane rundt en gul ball (‘In Orbit Around a Yellow Ball’) 2014. ‘Body Searches’ and ‘In Orbit Around a Yellow Ball’ were published in English by Broken Dimanche Press and Sampson Low respectively. He lives in Ålesund, Norway.

Vilde Bjerke Torset is a Norwegian artist, translator and poet based in London. Her recent publications include the poetry books Apollinaire and Other Horses (If a Leaf Falls Press, 2022), What It Means When You Dreams: A to Z (AFV press, 2021), and the artist’s book Pareidolia - Dotremont’s Daughter (Timglaset, 2020)

Harry Man is a poet, editor and translator, his most recent pamphlet, co-authored with Endre Ruset is Utøya Thereafter: Poems in Memory of the 2011 Norway Attacks which is published by Hercules Editions. You can find more of his work at www.manmadebooks.co.uk


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