Defeat
Winter again
has the upper hand
The earth
stands on end
The sun peeps
just for a moment
above the horizon
The snowcrust
an eggshell
under my feet
Atlantis
Many’s
the time
that we dived down
has the upper hand
stands on end
just for a moment
above the horizon
an eggshell
under my feet
the time
that we dived down
into
darkened seas
seeking out
houses, streets,
squares and taverns
a city
on the bottom of the sea
The search it seemed
was to no avail
But now
as the water rises
it dawns on us
that we
have been
living there
houses, streets,
squares and taverns
on the bottom of the sea
The search it seemed
was to no avail
as the water rises
it dawns on us
that we
have been
living there
all the time
Victory
The spruce trees point
upwards like spears
into the lake-blue sky
In silence the forest
musters its ranks of trees
Yet he slips through
their clutches
the white bull reindeer
into the lake-blue sky
musters its ranks of trees
their clutches
the white bull reindeer
making towards
the sky-blue lake
Author’s Bionote:
*Gerður Kristný (b. 1970) is among the leading contemporary writers of Iceland. For the past two decades she has produced a vast oeuvre, ranging from journalistic works on various subjects to ten volumes of poetry, for which she is best known internationally. For her modern poetical rewriting of Norse myths, the poetic cycle “Bloodhoof”, she received the Icelandic Literature Awards and was nominated for the prestigious Nordic Council Awards. Together “Bloodhoof” and the poetry cycles “Drápa - A Reykjavík Murder Mystery“ and “Reykjavík Requiem“, published in 2014 and 2018, respectively, constitutes a trilogy of poems concerning gender-based violence. In 2022 Gerður Kristný was awarded the Order of the Falcon for her services to Icelandic literature and culture.
the sky-blue lake
Author’s Bionote:
*Gerður Kristný (b. 1970) is among the leading contemporary writers of Iceland. For the past two decades she has produced a vast oeuvre, ranging from journalistic works on various subjects to ten volumes of poetry, for which she is best known internationally. For her modern poetical rewriting of Norse myths, the poetic cycle “Bloodhoof”, she received the Icelandic Literature Awards and was nominated for the prestigious Nordic Council Awards. Together “Bloodhoof” and the poetry cycles “Drápa - A Reykjavík Murder Mystery“ and “Reykjavík Requiem“, published in 2014 and 2018, respectively, constitutes a trilogy of poems concerning gender-based violence. In 2022 Gerður Kristný was awarded the Order of the Falcon for her services to Icelandic literature and culture.