sloth: real bird perched on a no birds allowed sign ((ex)bird)
sloth ([personal profile] sloth) wrote2009-04-20 02:51 pm
Entry tags:

Inaugral non-fic archival post

Given it is the month for poems, I figured I would start off with one of those; in this case, Rolf Jacobsen's Some People, translated by Robert Bly.


Some people
ascend out of our life, some people
enter our life,
uninvited and sit down,
some people
calmly walk by, some people 
give you a rose, 
or buy you a new car, 
some people
stand so close to you, some people
you've entirely forgotten,
some people, some people
are actually you,
some people 
you've never seen at all, some people
eat asparagus, some people
are chlidren, 
some people climb on the roof, 
sit down at table
lie around in hammocks, take walks with their red umbrella,
some people look at you,
some people have never noticed you at all, some people
want to take your hand, some people
die during the night, 
some people are other people, some people are you, some people
don't exist
some people do.


In other news, new Chuck tonight! \o/ 

I've got to say, show does a really good shop of taking ideas that make me cringe at in theory, grin at in practice. 
phnelt: octopus destroys metropolis (Default)

[personal profile] phnelt 2009-04-21 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
Hm, yeah. That is especially interesting because the whole poem is a generalization in its way. 'Some people' and then talking about 'you' and I know English is especially bad for this and I think this is translated? But in English with its singular/plural you really makes that whole statement much broader. I read that line as some people [individuals]/give [individuals] a rose.

It's very broad and personal at the same time. I like that.
phnelt: octopus destroys metropolis (Default)

[personal profile] phnelt 2009-04-21 01:15 pm (UTC)(link)
If you can't overanalyze what's the point of life? hee.