Through the Window
The quiet moonlight
wavers in
the night-full
Silence
breathing the old
larch tree
unframed into Life —
with sorrowful joy.
Tuonela*
They washed their bodies
and brought them home
every one he said,
even the ones blown
to smithereens
I asked?
He quietly gazed
at the clever fool,
later I saw him
weep
by the winter graves
of war.
The Menninkäinen**
The sung words
of the Kalevala say
Oak is God’s tree
and Willow first tree,
but deep in Karelia’s
ancient dark forests
the Menninkäinen
offer their hymns
to the healing trees,
starry Birch,
courageous Pine.
Dream
In the dream
a clear voice
called
Ask —
Who am I?
*Tuonela, the underworld, the realm of the dead, and the afterlife in Finnish mythology.
**Nature spirits
