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"In the morning / they wake me" and "I walk out / with my papers into the rain" poem

By Jila Mossaed and Nicola Vulpe
In the morning / they wake me

In the morning / they wake me

På morgonen                                                                In the morning
väcker de mig                                                               they wake me
i spegeln                                                                       in the mirror
Blyga kvinnor klädda i dygd                                        these shy women wrapped in virtue

Kvinnor som åldras                                                      These women who grow old
i den oerfarna kärlekens famn                                      in the arms of love never dared
inbäddade i bomull och pärlor                                     buried under cotton and pearls
Fångar med ångest                                                       Prisoners of dread
har aldrig släppt                                                           who've never let
sina drifter fria                                                             their passion slip free

Kvinnor som uppenbarar sig varje morgon                  These women who show up each morning
påminner mig                                                               reminding me
att berätta om mina mödrar                                         that I must speak of my mothers
Och om mig själv                                                         And of myself
med frusna rötter                                                         and my roots frozen
under min kjol                                                             under my skirt


I walk out / with my papers into the rain

Jag går ut                                                                      I walk out
med mina papper i regnet                                             with my papers into the rain
Raderna suddas ut                                                        The lines wash away

Liknar tårar                                                                  Like tears
som sköljer bort våndan                                               washing dread
ur strupen                                                                     from the throat

Hur sover de underjordiska innevånarna                      How do they sleep, the underworld people
när regnet trummar på deras tak?                                 when the rain rattles their roofs?

About the authors

Jila Mossaed was 17 when she published her first poems in Iranian literary journals. She went on to study in the United States, then write for Iranian radio and television. Her first poetry collection, The Fleet Gazelles of Memory, published in 1986, earned her an unwelcome visit from the Iranian censors. She left Iran with her two children shortly afterwards, eventually finding refuge in Sweden. In 1997, Mossaed published her first poetry collection in Swedish, The Moon and the Eternal Cow. She has received numerous literary prizes in Sweden, and in 2018 she was elected to Chair 15 of the Swedish Academy. Her poetry has been translated into Dutch, Greek and French, and her work has been honoured in France with both the Prix Vénus Khoury-Ghata and the Prix Max Jacob. Her most recent book, Jag tillhörde vindarna (I belonged to the wind), was published in 2024.

Nicola Vulpe is a Canadian poet whose most recent collections, Insult to the Brain and Through the Waspmouth I Drew You, both received Fred Cogswell Awards for Excellence in Poetry. His next collection, On the News that Sagittarius A* Grows Hungrier, will appear with Guernica Editions in 2025.