Friday's Poem #3

Sweden's most famous living poet, Tomas Tranströmer, has won the Nobel prize for literature. That's why, for the first time and without setting a precedent, I'm posting a translation. I must confess I hadn't heard much about him before yesterday's news but once I read about him and his life and read some of his poems I thought you too would enjoy his poetry.
Robin Robertson, one of his English translators, has written a moving little article in today's Guardian of which I'm posting an extract:

"Every October, for decades, a group of reporters and photographers have gathered in the stairwell of an apartment block in a quiet district of Stockholm, waiting to hear if the poet upstairs has finally won the Nobel prize for literature. The poet's wife, Monica, would bring them tea and biscuits while they stood around – but they would always leave, around lunchtime, as the news came in that the prize had gone to someone else. Annually, the name of Tomas Tranströmer comes up, and with every year one felt a growing sense that he would never receive this highest literary honour from his own country. The vigil is over now, with Thursday's wonderful news".

So this is my choice, enjoy!

Source of picture

The Tree and the Sky

There’s a tree walking around in the rain,
it rushes past us in the pouring grey.
It has an errand. It gathers life
out of the rain like a blackbird in an orchard.

When the rain stops so does the tree.
There it is, quiet on clear nights
waiting as we do for the moment
when the snowflakes blossom in space.

Copyright © Tomas Tranströmer, translated by Robin Fulton