Poems by Niillas Holmberg

​Poem for 2nd film, Á-K sitting on Nature’s lap
 
Unknowingly, but still
you chose this longing
this unawareness of origin, of belonging.
 
Unknowingly, but still
you stepped away from everyone
when stepping away from me.
 
Unknowingly, but still
you chose solitude
long before solitude 
was forced upon you.
 
Remember, you used to dream of freedom
you gave it nicknames like
Veni, Vidi, Vici
Carpe Diem
Terra Nullius
 
and now, unknowingly, but still
you call it a lockdown.
 
 
---
Did I stop knowing the ocean
before or after
I sold my boat?
 
---
The elders didn’t forbid us
summiting the peak
in fear of avalanche –
 
searches, funerals
and lifelong griefs
are merely a byproduct
of yet lengthier things
 
 
---
If only I didn’t 
polish the mirror
at the cost of the window
 
 
---
We used to take a sip from the river
before jumping on boat.
 
Do I remember why?
 
---
Washing your hands daily, said grandpa
will make you thin-skinned
prone to disease
 
I think he was right then
 
I’ve just got so many hands more
than he did in his day

 
Scene 8
 
It’s you, it’s you
 
I know my mouth has grown wide
I know my footprints are like craters
but I still long for you
 
Oftentimes ill at ease
oftentimes yearning
but few are days like this
when I know that it’s you
 
It’s you it’s you
 
I know my mouth has grown wide
and my footprints are like craters
but I still long for you

Niillas Holmberg (born 1990) is a poet, musician, actor, translator and activist from Ohcejohka in Sámiland, Finland. He is the author of three collections of poetry, written in his mother tongue, Northern Sami, a minority language spoken by 20 000 people in Finland, Norway and Sweden. In 2016, his collection The Way Back was published in English translation by Francis Boutle. He has performed at festivals like Medellin Poetry Festival in Colombia, Struga Poetry Evenings in Macedonia, and Poetry on the Road in Bremen. In 2015 he received the Premio Giovani Literature Prize for his influental efforts to develop and promote Sámi culture. The same year he was also the Sámi nominee to the Nordic Council Literary Award, the most prestigious literary award in the Nordic countries. 

---

---