Gabe and Papa’s latest (January 2017) In light of recent events.
The empty paper, the pen, and the pain.
I can’t get started, he says,
while priming the pump.
The pieces laid out on the table.
Fresh water or fresh thoughts:
both sometimes require a taking apart,
a putting-back together.
Jari in Unhola M.R.A. – 2017
My friend keeps on stealing my few words
I have created in the foggy nights in Unhola.
There is nothing new or old –
everything has already been said too many times.
My prostate is getting larger faster than my thinking.
I still love my friend, the poet, on the other side of the table,
The stealer of my few words.
The Stealer of Words J.L. – 2017
Have we suffered enough for breakfast?
The world has turned once more.
Bombs have fallen somewhere. I didn’t quite catch where, on the radio.
A new tyrant in office; the people’s saviour.
And yet: the sun rose,
And we are here.
My stomach complains.
There will be tea and toast
And enough suffering, no doubt, for dessert.
Suffering and Breakfast M.R.A. – 2017
There is no measuring tape for one’s suffering before the breakfast
Home-made yoghurt is the most delicious poetry
That has ever touched these rough lips.
Suffering and Breakfast J.L. – 2017
The prices of the solar panels
have gone up steeply in 20 years.
What is the price of the renewable energy of love
in our impatient time,
where poems must be written in 27 seconds?
Love and Solar Panels J.L. – 2017
Määrittelet rakkautemme aurinkopaneeliksi.
Sitähän meillä ei ole.
Ei vielä,
mutta aurinko on.
Love and solar panels L.L. – 2017
Laku can’t even be with us.
Poor dog, hanging her head over the gate.
So much desire in such a small package.
Such faithfulness, kept out of our room.
Licorice is best in small bites.
Laku M.R.A – 2017
Laku, viisas ystäväni,
Sinä jaksat rakastaa
aidan läpikin.
Laku can’t even be with us L.L. – 2017
Laku can’t be with us
Even though she heard her name called by the kitchen poets.
She knows more that we all, together.
Too wise and too real to be fully accepted as a member of the
Shakepeare club of European starlings.
Laku can’t even be with us J.L. – 2017
‘Wait and see what Trump does.’ How many times have we heard that, lately. Such terrible uncertainty. Everywhere. But hasn’t it always been that way? Jesus called the first disciples during brutal military occupation. Martin Luther became a monk and then a reformer during societal earthquakes. Martin Luther King was who he was because he lived out his dream during, and precipitating, crises that shook the world. And so again the call. This Jesus walks by us too. And says: ‘follow me. NOW is the time. Despite: no – because of – the risk. Follow me.’
Unsettled Words 