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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