مرة
ذهبت إلى موعد
كنت جميلة جدا
انتظرت الشاب دقائق قصيرة
واقفة إلى جانب الطاولة
مرتبكة و مترددة
حتى ظهر الشاب مثل ذلك الضوء الذي نراه كلنا آخر النفق
كان أجمل مني بكثير
أصبت بالاحباط الشديد
أو ربما بالفخر
طلبنا كأسي نبيذ
و جلسنا نشاهد بعضنا البعض!
Sød kartoffel
Jeg står ved siden af en ung hipster
Hans lyse skæg minder mig om en sød kartoffel
Især den friske og støvede slags
Som min mor plejede at riste.
Man ser ingen rester af blod
Eller religion
Ikke andet end et fuldskæg som accesory.
Måske ser du i dit tøvende hjerte
Aftrykket af kvindehænder
Og rå kys
Mens bussen kører på oplyste gader
Føler jeg mig lykkelig
Fordi jeg lever et sted, der er anderledes fra resten af verden
Halvmørkt og koldt
Men det er meget civiliseret og fredeligt
Freden er langt vigtigere end lys
Jeg har oplevet mange krige
Dengang var det varmt og solrigt
Men stammers og flere stammers rædsler
Ødelagde alt det smukke
Her er freden og mørket
Bedre end mit lands varme.
* Oversættelse af Kawther Abu Hani’s digte
Nanna Sejsbo
Two diverse backgrounds of the world
After a stressful day at work, I went to the supermarket for shopping yoghurt and many other boring stuffs. I got even more stressed, because I detest shopping food. I prefer to go to clothes stores! I had that grumpy face until I came back to home and was very hungry. Made hamburger and added to it some fresh plum tomatoes.
I couldn’t avoid reading or following the news about Palestine, I tried to not get disturb by the bloody news. But it’s impossible. Even writing about it now, makes me confused, sad, angry and scared. Yes, I’m very scared to read any of my family’s names in the list of ‘killed by Israel at the Gaza borders with Israel’. More than 58 were killed so far. Palestinians in Gaza went for protesting against the Israeli occupation, they wanted to break down the borders, they also raged at moving US embassy to Jerusalem.
I shutdown my computer, I’m a helpless person. What can I do? Maybe writing a little about the Palestinian issue would help to raise the awareness. It’s petty that Gaza is like the ‘background’ of the world, it’s a forgotten tiny city, suddenly appears on TV and frontpages of newspapers, when there’s a war or blood-bath (as the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet described the situation in Gaza today).
I took Bullen, my Norwegian cat, went down to the building garden. Bullen is still not used to go outdoors. He got suspicious whenever he heard any sound coming from people behind the windows. He smelled everything around and he hide when a neighbour came with flowers. She wanted to plant some yellow flowers, but she didn’t find an empty place for them. That neighbour and her husband like taking care of the building a lot, I was relieved that she didn’t see Bullen when he was eating the grass and playing with the flowers. He was shy, so he didn’t show up for her.
After a while, more neighbours came to the garden. They were three women, it seemed they planned for having wine there. The weather was warm enough to stay outside at 21:00. I sipped a little wine to try the taste, it was rosy. The women looked elegant and happy. Another neighbour joined us, but from his balcony, he was planting herbs and talking to us. I still feel lucky living in such a building where people are very social and friendly which isn’t that common in Stockholm.
There are two diverse backgrounds of the world, bloody one in Gaza/Palestine. The other one is blooming at my building in the peaceful Stockholm/Sweden!
Madam green and the love path
If the day starts with a good morning, then the rest of the day will really last on a positive vibe. I started my day by making American pancakes. It was my first time ever making pancakes and the result was tasty. I even made a different thing, I added cocoa to the last portion of the batter and that chocolate pancake became special and unexpectedly delicious! I actually wanted to make them for two years, when I visited a friend at her summerhouse in Stockholm and her husband made us American pancakes as unforgettable breakfast.
The kitchen got messy just after preparing the pancakes, I washed the dishes and left the cutleries to clean them later. I hate cleaning small things! They take longer time than washing pans! Trivial kitchen matters.
I had to rush up to go to meet a friend, the weather was around 24 °. I was very happy reading two and four, twenty-four! So definitely I wore summer clothes, first I wore a floral dress I bought from Mango, I felt relieved wearing light clothes without needing layers or jackets. But I decided to change the dress, because I felt like I was wearing a bed sheet or a curtain. It was too much colourful.
The place we went to was Djurgårdsbrunn, one of my favourites in Stockholm. There are many places I’m fascinated by and I love walking around them, Reimersholme and Långholmen are the most common places for me to walk.
We walked over the small bridge and there we could watch the magic of madam green. Everything wore the green colour after the long dark Swedish winter. We walked through a lovely path called ‘Kärleksstigen’, which means the love path. And on the left side of the love path we could see lazy cows eating grass, their huge amount of pats reminded me of my father’s cows. Once he bought two cows and since they made lots of pats, my father started selling the cow’s pats to the neighbours for their plants. And whenever a fight happened between us, the children of the neighbourhood, I was so proud to tell them ‘your dad bough a shit from us’. It was mean, but funny.
We stopped for a fika in the middle of nowhere, the toilet door didn’t open, it needed a coin. My friend and I had only cards. It was ridiculous to not be able to pee because of a coin! Anyway, it was fixed.
The day ended by Thai food and computer games! Good end, isn’t it?
More photos of the day:
I revolutionernes tid
I revolutionernes tid
Blev det nemt for os at blive helte
Og at proklamere statslederens afgang
Og at anerkende kvinders rettigheder
I revolutionernes tid
Vil manden forblive revolutionær
Og kvinden et rødt tegn
I hver en række, i hvert et hus.
Du kommer hjem fra revolutionen til dit hus
Hvor der findes en revolution, større end en meteor
Din familie er et styresystem
Din far er præsident
Vælt familiens skikke
Før end du vælter det korrumperede styre.
Der findes på bunden af sjælen
En stille tromme
Slå på den nu
Rejs dig fra din dvale
Gør oprør mod din angst
Se dine mørke traditioner i øjnene
Trommernes lyd
Er en dans
Voltaire er ikke død.
* Oversættelse af Kawther Abu Hani’s digte
Nanna Sejsbo
Et kedeligt land
Dette land er meget kedeligt
Ingen krige
Ingen skænderier mellem naboerne
Ingen skrigende sælgere
Ingen bygningsarbejdere som råber til hinanden
Et ensomt land
Ingen børn der leger på gaden
Ingen mænd i færd med at jagte kvarterets kvinder
Ingen forældre siddende på husenes trappesten
Et koldt land
Vinteren kommer hurtigt
Og med et skifter de til vintertid
De klæder sig i mørket og mange af dem rejser til solen
Der i vores fjerne, varme lande…
Dette land er hårdt mod sine arbejdsløse
Strengt og ærligt, fordi dets reb er lange
Og fordi dets byers tomme kulde ikke giver et sted for dem at flygte hen
Et land vi drømmer meget om
Vi forsøger altid at rejse til det
For kærlighedens og frihedens og livets skyld
På trods af dette
Hvor fremmede og blide vi fremstår
Blev vi hurtigt knækket af murstenshusene,
Og vi står tilbage med friheden til frustration
Dette land
Er ikke ligesom Niels’ eventyr
Det ligner ikke Pippi
Hvis bare det var lige så ægte som kærligheden til vores triste land.
* Oversættelse af Kawther Abu Hani’s digte
Nanna Sejsbo
A beaver on a sunny day
I’m not a morning person at all, so today I woke up around 9:00 and that’s quite early, especially on Saturday! But I couldn’t resist the shiny sun beams when they were falling over me through the window. I made a sandwich and sat in the kitchen for a while making up plans for the day, then started cleaning the flat very quickly. It was annoying that Bullen’s (my cat) fur was everywhere, so it took time to brush it (easier than using the vacuum cleaner).
After having my favourite lunch which’s chicken thigh with roasted vegetables, I went to meet a friend. We brought some crisps, drinks and sandwiches… and headed toward Rålambshovsparken. The park was invaded by people who were thrilled by the sun…
After a few hours and while leaving the park, we passed by a beaver biting the woods that were hanging over the lake, in the beginning when I saw a woman taking photos of the beaver, I though she was crazy that she was taking photos of a stone, but it was a beaver! I’ve never seen it before! Was wonderful.
We dropped the stuff at my friend’s flat and went for a walk until Vasaparken, there we stopped for a fika (the Swedish break, coffee). I was overwhelmed with happiness of summer vibes, sitting at that café opposite to a cherry tree, watching the sunset and thinking about nothing but only the beauty of life.
Kawther Ljustermo 