[autumn sonata on ownership] Poem by Risto Oikarinen

An autumn sonata on ownership. The birch belongs to the courtyard, the yard to birch leaves, the leaves to the leaf blower, the blower to the gardener, the gardener to the city, the city belongs to the state, the state to no one, no one to human, human to his body, body to motion, motion to waves, waves to storm, storm belongs in my water glass, water glass to pills, pills to the poor soul, the poor soul to therapy, the therapist to her dog, the dog belongs to the animal kingdom, the kingdom's getting poorer, poverty belongs to the greedy, greed belongs to hell, hell to Christian faith, faith to the downstairs' granny, granny to earth's soil, soil to roots, roots to the birch in the courtyard.


Translated by Maria Lyytinen