Abode of the Giants; Circuit Route
1. WAY WEST
On our way west
several ridges to ascend, and to descend from,
slowly, on serpentine highways
where big trucks pull heavy trailers,
trailers bringing farm raised salmon
from the western fiords
Sudden waterfalls from steep cliffs
close to the road, chockingly
Further to the west
after passing thru many tunnels
Eagle´s view: down below,
in the rain, bridge with pylons
over a narrow water
2. VOICES
The next day, in Bergen, at a festival,
we listen to a handful of well known Scandinavian poets,
all women, reading to an expert local audience
One of them, a thin intellectual,
letting loose a current of disconnected statements
Then a punk poet in black, past her prime,
rapidly reading cut-up sentences
Last, Pia Tafdrup from Denmark
reads from her new book, intensely,
in her melodious voice. She tells us
of the death of her father, tells us
of Tarkovski´s emblematic horses,
in Stalker, and elsewhere; remembrances
The day after, given the chance,
we continue straight to the north; a ferry
brought us to the other side of Sogne, king of the fiords
3. SOGNE FIORD
Waking up to a sunny day: hardly a ripple
on the wide water. White cruiseships returning
from the east, bound for the sea, pass
on the opposite side. Snow on the ridges
In the valleys, apple orchards in bloom
The smell of flowers, trees cut low
like in vineyards, row after row,
bringing to mind Nicolai Astrup,
the local Joelster painter, second only to Munch
4. WATERSHED
Further north, after many turns, up
the high valley to check
one of the arms of the Jostedal glacier,
Nigard, rapidly shrinking, faintly blue
Then over the watershed, near the top
of the Scandinavian peninsula: Jotunheim,
the abode of the Jotuns, the Giants,
close to 2.500 mtrs. Pinnacles straight up from the ice
and the dazzling snow. Others like teeth in the jaws
of a wolf
The highway walled in by barriers of snow
After the shed, the road runs parallel to the river
for a while; suddenly you discover that the water
is running the other way. I've often noticed this,
in many regions. The river downwards, the road upwards,
or vice versa. Strange phenomenon, in the mountains
Trust the water; believe in your senses …
Going back south by the Gudbrand Valley
On the slopes farms with huge barns
in red and white; the Logen River
broad and impressive. This is the main artery
of all the land to the east of the mountains
At the Boe River. Telemark, Norway June 6, 2007
It was a happy day when Reider sent this to me as a gift to place into the Origin I was editing and wanting certain folks all together. In some arenas, poets like skateboarders like apple pickers, still have the look and act of the tribe. Born in 1929 in Gavle, Sweden, since 1997 Reidar Ekner has lived in Norway. His 30 books of poetry, essays and many translations, also includes his passion for Ekelof, consisting of 9 published volumes.
