RIP Kareem

Too early


Goodbye Stranger, I say goodbye, on the road
to nowhere, to the final country where everyone is welcomed in,
where nothing needn't know your origin. 

Farewell sir,
without papers, without identity. What were you looking for?
How much did you lose along the way?
Who stares through the empty window, waits - nameless man, wait, while I speak
and entrust my empty words to this empty room.

I am too late. You I never knew.
Not at your weakest, not in your strength.
Not in the final country, where you are greeted without name.
I don't know the words you spoke. Not me.

Who then, loved you? In which rooms did you sleep, who kissed you goodnight, who'll wear out your shirt?
Who will want to stand where you once stood?
Who now takes the road you took?
Who still looks for you? Who remembers whence you came?
Who heard the voice calling out for you to come on home man to your final haven, Lahti, Finland. 

(This poem is originally by Frank Starik, a poet from Amsterdam. 
Now adapted by Kristiina Kartano.)

6.6.2017 For the memory of Kareem (1996-2017)


 Surulaulu "Niin kaunis on maa, niin korkea taivas". Poissa on ystävä kallehin.
 https://youtu.be/SlCR6QsvkWQ

A Kneeling Figure (A Man of Sorrows)

George Frederic Watts (1817-1904)

Rakkaani lattialla,
lapsi
hyvä ja ehjä.
Hän ei ole säikkynyt vielä
eikä epävarmuutta ole.
Hän ja maailma kohtaavat vähitellen.
Kun häntä osaisi varoittaa. Kun osaisi kertoa
että maailma muuttaa meitä niin
että vain harva ehtii ollenkaan
muuttaa maailmaa.

- Liisa Laukkarinen

Lemminkäisen äiti, Akseli Gallen-Kallela 1897

 Surun kuva: Lemminkäisen äiti
 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemmink%C3%A4isen_%C3%A4iti

 اللة يرحمة
May his soul rest in peace.