Poems by Kim Simonsen
Translated from the Faroese by Randi Ward
Six or seven hairs turned grey last night,
others fell out.
Even though no one can tell by looking at me,
I heard the leaves
growing outside my window last night.
§
Í nátt gránaðu seks ella sjey hár,
onnur duttu av høvdinum.
Sjálvt um eingin sær tað á mær,
hoyrdi eg leyvið
grógva í nátt uttan fyri vindeygað.
I can sleep all day,
stay up all night,
I’m always losing something along the way.
Like that back that’s turned and walking away
on the deck of a ferry.
I follow the ferry,
I follow myself,
heading into middle age.
§
Eg kann sova allan dagin,
vera uppi alla náttina,
altíð missi eg okkurt burtur.
Ryggurin sum flytur seg burtur
á dekkinum á eini ferju.
Eg fylgi eini ferju,
eg fylgi mær sjálvum,
ferðandi móti miðaldrinum.
Kim Simonsen (1970) is a Faroese writer and researcher from the island of Eysturoy. His latest poetry collection, Lívfrøðiliga samansetingin í einum dropa av sjógvi minnir um blóðið í mínum æðrum (The biological composition of a drop of seawater is reminiscent of the blood in my veins, 2023), was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2024.
Randi Ward (1982) is a poet, translator, lyricist, and photographer from West Virginia. She earned her MA in Cultural Studies from the University of the Faroe Islands and has twice won the American-Scandinavian Foundation’s Nadia Christensen Prize. For more information, visit randiward.com.
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