To Scandinavia

From each other

The houses far apart

The long woods

With that tone of melancholy

Covered in subtle and violent snow

The high trees

That seem to taste the blue sky

And the dark night

Incensed with stars

The scandinavian soul torn apart

By two poles

One of awe

That kind of awe

Which comes from beholding the sublimity of nature

Or the face of death

When it comes to request the soul of others

Whom we love or know

The other pole is happiness

That inviolated happiness that comes with spring

When the world turns back to itself

And blooms

And becomes prodigal

In a second

That resembles eternity

But that hope for permanency

Yet lies far away

From the hand that tries to reach out

And the cycle repeats

The contingency of suffering and joy

That tension

Is both remarkable and imposible.

Dear and resilient Scandinavian soul

Bestowed with gifts of gold and woe.

Santiago Hamelau