onnellinen päivä? no, miten sen nyt ottaa... onnellisuus ei ole ennalta
arvattavissa, aavistettavissa tai määrättävissä. tämä päivä oli minulle yksi
muiden joukossa, yhtä herkkä ja tärkeä kokemus kuin mikä tahansa muu elämäni
ajankohta.
Lawrence, I thought the word "rue" gave the irony away. :)
I've never been that sentimental about my country's history, and I've
certainly never shared in any feelings of nationalism. not just because
after living in London for the first decade of my life it was thrilling
enough to rediscover my heritage and "my country" (which I have done,
believe me; England holds little to no nostalgia for me [no offense
whatsoever, unca P; I treasure a great number of my memories & experiences
in what is truly the Old country, among them your neighbourliness]), but
because I consider one's country of origin or birth a matter of small
importance in defining one's personality or identity. a country is just a
place, named a certain name and defined by certain laws, agreements and
borders. I grew up, for a long time, in a country that I never considered my
own, and yet I speak its language with a fluency that easily matches my
literal mother tongue. I was brought up, I suppose, to accept & admire my
surroundings without heed to cultural dogma, and to this day I value Finnish
nature with real reverence, and many other aspects of Finnish culture.
still, I recognize the need for an anchor in this infinitely multihued,
sequestered world, and find that anchor in the country that my blood has
recognized for generations. I also recognize it. but history is nothing but
a force to me, faceless and encapsulating like light. I value the sacrifices
of others long gone, but more than that I value what I see & sense & love
NOW. I've been rediscovering the Finnish language lately and bending it into
poetry like I've never done before; my mother calls it my emotive language,
which to me makes English my language of conception & reformulation. labels
don't really mean a lot in situations like these.
KS
On 6 December 2010 13:24, Patrick McManus <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> onnellinen Suomen itsenäisyyspäivä
> terveiset Patrick
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Kasper Salonen
> Sent: 06 December 2010 10:32
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: happy finnish independence day
>
> today we celebrate our nondependence from russian rule & rue our dependence
> on EU policy. rejoice!
>
> KS
>
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