TO FINLAND

In the night I dreamed I left

for Finland. I did not fly—

we came by boat. My husband said

I prefer to go toward Finland

“on the waves.”

I looked at an old map

while I roamed. Water birds

were talking ("made noises").

I ate fish heads.

Kemi, Majava, Kokkola—

or toward Helsinki.

We arrived.

I heard Finnish talk:

Good day, my friends.

I put buttermilk to my lips.

Fish were cleaned on the shore

while boys gathered. I asked

a blond girl ("maiden"),

Where are the Pyhäjoki people?

We met in Oulu some relatives.

In pictures

Mother appeared as a dream. 

. . .

I saw every province

through the window of a train.

And also I walked towards sauna.

We jumped from steam

to the lake (through ice?).

In snowstorms we glided.

I sometimes fell.

But in the joy of my dream

everything went well.

People with gray hair

and young people too, wished

Welcome.

I enjoyed "pulla"

with the coffee they poured—

and the kitchen was filled

with food. They showed us shops,

churches, whirls in brooks,

castles. At Siikajoki

I stepped into my father's house.

It seemed as if I’d earlier

arrived in this village.

At once I woke.

The country of Suomi

disappeared from the picture.

Soon I will go, if I get the spirit

to fly.

Let's go now.

Copyright © 2003 Ruth Ahola

Original translation from the Finnish by Reimo Aaltonen.