Janne Nummela


(Untitled)

What are those swallows doing there anyway
come down
                     icons that Freud midwifed into a hard light

come down from there!
                               from your pride to walk
                                                                       in my shoes

There's always room for a precise observation

For six hours I lie in a meadow trying
           to reach the insects' wave length
           over to the sand strip with soles borrowed
                               always a certain bird song or flower colour
                     commands my attention

The swallows wash themselves in the air

                                                    the mallards in the pond

                               are not exactly swimming either

           in an unreal yard

when looking real attentively
                                         I don't know what's happening

Hundreds of blue darners (Aeschnidae) chirping

At each step a perfect inadequacy of senses is observable

           Models for explanation needed:
is there or isn't there

              too much of life in these all-around-the-well small

                                                                                 grass' moments?

is there or isn't there
too much of life in these feather oat's moments?
          is there or isn't there
too much of life in these moments that keep falling into the windowsill?
                     is there or isn't there
too much of life in these moments that change into sulphuric acid?
                               is there or isn't there
too much of life in these moist leaves' tiny tiny moments?
                                         is there or isn't there
too much of life in these soluble moments?
                                                   is there or isn't there
too much of life in these very light, non-occupied moments?
                                                             is there or isn't there
too much of life in these Messerschmitt and Spitfire moments?
                                                   is there or isn't there
too much of life in these sleep-crusted moments?
                                                   is there or isn't there
too much of life in these shoulder-fired heat-targeted moments?
                                         is there or isn't there
too much of life in these mechanical hand-operated Swiss spring moments?
                               is there or isn't there
too much of life in these meadow rue's moments?
                     is there or isn't there
too much of life in these strategic intercontinental moments?
           is there or isn't there
too much of life in these air-seasoned moments?
                                                                       is there or isn't there
too much of life in these battery operated six gigahertz moments?
                                                             is there or isn't there
too much of life in these under-the-surface-broken moments?
                                                   is there or isn't there
too much of life in these dissolvent-dilutable epoxide resin moments?
                                         is there or isn't there
too much of life in these used pewter-coated moments?
                                   is there or isn't there
too much of life in these with shelter-tubes sheltered moments?
                       is there or isn't there
too much of life in these pre-varnished moments?
is there or isn't there
too much of life in these ranch-raised or natural moments?
                      is there or isn't there
too much of life in these brilliant-grinded moments?
                                    is there or isn't there
too much of life in these seed-growed moments?
                                                     is there or isn't there
too much of life in these Rhizoctonia swamp contaminated uninuclear moments?
                                                               is there or isn't there
too much of life in these shedding moments?
                                                                         is there or isn't there
too much of life in these icily jingling moments?
                                                                                   is there or isn't there
too much of life in these bushy moments suspended under that dry branch?


                                        translated by Leevi Lehto


Janne Nummela is a Finnish poet, encyclopaedist, and patent examiner. His first book of collage and Google-generated poems, Lyhyellä matkalla ohuesti jäätyneen meren yli (A Short Journey Across a Sea Coverered with Thin Ice), from which this poem comes, was published by poEsia in 2006.

 
 
 
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