Kai Nieminen
from Serious Poems
translated by Anselm Hollo

 

Uncivilized Ruminations

 
 


The fool listens to the sage, the sage to the fool. The dunce
laughs at both.

                             *

Do idiots really do any damage? I don't know, I'm so utterly
fed up with them that I don't even feel like thinking about it.

                             *

Sometimes, in the silent darkness of the night, I seem to see
flashes of truly intelligent, understanding faces. Then I real-
ize I must have nodded out for a moment.

                             *

One should tolerate simpletons, I suppose, but tell me how
many mosquitoes whining around your pillow it takes to
drive you to despair?

                             *

I am not in the dark, here; if only I were, I am sometimes
tempted to wish.

                             *

But then again, I am an optimist: one day there may well be
a universal power outage. And there are many who assure us
that the oil is finite.

                             *

Not that I am insisting on some purpose to life—on the
contrary, I insist on freedom from the purpose our lives are
forced into. You know by whom and how.

                             *

Old age comes and goes, just as youth did. And then?

                             *

In the midst of all the good times, do you remember how
good the times were before the good times began? Do you
dare to remember?

                             *

I'm not stupid, even though it may seem so. I just keep
singing all the time. Quietly, in my head. I've learned that
much.

                             *

My list of merits may not be anything to write home about,
but you should see the c.v. that lists all the foul deeds I left
undone even though I could have committed them.

                             *

What is caught on videotape does not really exist.

                             *

No one is born a genius. You have to die to become one.

                             *

Bored, the ergot waits for the blind hen.

                             *

I do not sport a beard, nor does my beard sport me. My
beard does not exist because I have grown it but because I
have refused to shave it off. The same goes for my thought.

                             *

You would like to become a misanthrope? Just acquire a
large circle of acquaintances.

                             *

It's no use denying my own corruption. But there are ways
to cover up the odor. They work so well that I don't always
notice it myself.

                             *

Now he'll be happier too, said the eunuch when he spayed
his cat.

                             *

Who knows how to speak, knows how to lie.

                             *

"Don't rush me!" One would think that such a humble and
simple wish could be honored—at least once in a while. But
what can you do.

                             *

It makes sense to enjoy one's posthumous success now. It
won't be much fun later.

                             *

The moon is slow enough, the bat fast enough. They have
been my mentors.

                             *

Then, one day, I got tired of being discontented and became
contented. Boy, did that feel good. After a while, I forgot
that, too, having other things to think about.

                             *

Death probably hurts. If only one could have a shot of rum
and someone playing the violin at that very moment.