Lost
It might be that a soul is like a ball of thread
that gets stuck on street corners and thoughts
and runs thin
and gets lost
Kato
Ehkä sielu on kuin lankakerä
joka takertuu kadunkulmiin ja ajatuksiin
ja kuluu
ja katoaa
Last Saturday
Under the granite sky
the city turned subterranean
At the end of the day another colour appeared
flashing in the windows of the tower blocks
like a comet
In the flaming city
people waited at bus stops
crowded into grocery stores
When we picked up the flowers
the conveyor belt crushed a petal and the air
filled with iron
We stood with our arms linked
on the edge of the parking lot
the sun expanded beyond the pines.
Viime lauantaina
Graniittitaivaan alla
kaupunki muuttui maanalaiseksi
Päivän päättyessä ilmestyi toinen väri
leimahti tornitalojen ikkunoissa
kuin pyrstötähti
Liekehtivässä kaupungissa
ihmiset seisoivat bussipysäkeillä
tungeksivat ruokaostoksille
Kun haimme kukat
terälehti murskaantui liukuhihnalle
ilmaan levisi raudan haju
Seisoimme käsikynkkää
parkkipaikan reunalla
aurinko laajentui mäntyjen takana.
Root
From their highland pastures
manors migrated to the city
the smell of sheep still in the air
at the end of every street
a new tower sprouted
landmarks lead astray.
Juuri
Kartanot olivat vaeltaneet
ylämaan laitumiltaan kaupunkiin
ilmassa tuntui yhä lampaiden tuoksu
jokaisen kadun päässä
versoi uusi torni
maamerkit johtivat harhaan.
A way out
It was dark, it was the heart of winter. Outside my window sleigh horses were feeding on oats.
The corner store sold easter chocolates. When I returned for milk, the shelves were full of gingerbread.
I got lost in the summer gardens where the leaves were already falling. A Bermuda triangle of gilded wheat.
Ulospääsy
Oli pimeää, oli sydäntalvi. Ikkunani edessä ruokittiin hevosvaljakoita.
Lähikaupassa myytiin pääsiäissuklaata. Kun palasin ostamaan maitoa, hyllyt olivat täynnä piparkakkuja.
Eksyin kesäpuutarhoihin, joissa lehdet olivat jo putoamassa. Kultaantuneen viljan Bermudan kolmio.
Sara Sneck (b. 1992, Uppsala, Sweden) is a Helsinki-based poet, with a degree in ecology and evolutionary biology. In her current job, she wades through mosquito-infested swamps and photographs the wings of fruit flies, while in her poetry, the city appears as an ancient animal, molded by the fantasies of its inhabitants. Sneck is fascinated by the symbolistic breach between the subjective and objective universes – the vision of the world from the corner of the eye. She is currently working on her first Finnish-language poetry collection, and enjoys translating her own work into English.
sivuvalo platform 