JUNE

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They stand before the priest and will never be happier or any more heroic than they are at this moment. The bride spots a fly crawling across the nose of the crucified Jesus and sneezes before she can answer. A mother stares at her child and can’t remember the father. Across the street, a man stands on a stool and washes his store window. A motorcycle cruises by. The priest looks up. There’s a light drizzle. Good weather for fishing, he thinks. He likes to fish, likes to stay out all day, even if it’s windy and pouring rain, even if the lake is empty. Out there, fishing, everything is of interest. Minnows, an old boot, the bottom.

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DAG STRAUMSVÅG

[Translated from the Norwegian by Robert Hedin.]

 

“June” first appeared in WILLOW SPRINGS magazine, and Straumsvag’s first collection, A BUMPY RIDE TO THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, Translated by Robert Hedin and Louis Jenkins (Red Dragonfly Press, 2011). Used by permission of the poet. Poem copyright Dag Straumsvåg. All rights reserved.

More about Dag Straumsvåg.

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