Excerpt from the second
volume of poems,
BLUETHROAT, TWITTER, SING, part of the trilogy TREKWAYS OF THE WIND.
How I respect
the old Sami life
That was true love of nature
where nothing was wasted
where humans were part of nature
Not until now have they
realized
that the people who lived here
ten thousand years ago
melted to become the Sami
That is a long time
The wanderings of the Egyptians Pharaohs
The riches of the Roman empire
The glory of the Greek culture
short moments if you compare
How I respect
the life of the ancient Sami
and how meaningless
for decades for centuries
to have learned the national days of other nations
How I respect the ancient
Sami way
How everything was utilized
everything that could be used
from reindeer pelts coats shoes sinews for thread
boil fry split dry
If you were hungry you were
but no one should mention starvation
In this affluent world
every other child is starving
and one third
eat two thirds
of the world’s food
How I respect old Sapmi
Even if others show me
papers they had written themselves
even if they had written a great deal
what do they know about our feelings
Our ancestors have made a
fire
on every slope
they have stepped on every stone
our ancestors
they have lived and died here
How I respect old Sapmi
How could they have lived for ten thousand years
without the right
to call the Samiland Sapmi
without the right to Sapmi
to be Sami
How could they have lived
for ten thousand years
in discord with nature
see the smart ones of the present
pollute the world poison
eat it barren
gnaw its bones
Homo Sapiens the wise human
Sometimes the lemming
multiplies
perhaps the earth is afflicted by a disease
which can be called consuming
Consumes human beings
They force our children
into such a life
us as well
to compete
more and more more and more
fast fast now faster
fastest
How I respect Sapmi
and the Sami life
but what can I do
what
I hide in the depths
in the hiding places of the tundras
to watch silently
how my land is destroyed
our Sapmi
like lemmings in a flock
they spread everywhere
I blink
In the depth of my being
a yoik grows
sadly
with tears in my eyes
I yoik in the voice of the heart
how I respect
Sapmi
What shall I do
I am a simple man
love peace and happiness
But if I say
it is more pleasant to drink
the wine than to offer it to a stone
that the seidi is a better altar
the noaidi drum’s a purer church bell
what happens then
And if I know
that one faith is as good as another
even though people whose faith is work
use it differently
what happens then
And if I tell you now
that priests
sold hundreds of liquor kegs
that they killed an eighty year old man
for yoiking
what then
Even if I mentioned the judgements of hell
the oppression of people
or innumerable wars
innocent victims
what could I do
I am a simple man
I prefer happiness
warmth