A Finn
A Finn is someone who answers when he is not asked,
asks when he is not answered, does not answer when he is not asked,
someone who strays off the road, shouts on the shore
and on the opposite shore someone else like him shouts:
the forest rings, resounds, the pine trees sigh.
From there a Finn comes and groans, he is here and groans,
that way he goes and groans, he is like someone in the sauna and groans
when someone else throws water on the stones.
Such a Finn always has a chum,
he is never alone and the chum is a Finn.
Nothing can part a Finn from a Finn,
nothing except death and the police.
About this poem
This poem, representing Finland, is part of The Written World – our collaboration with BBC radio to broadcast a poem from every single nation competing in London 2012.
