når barnet sover

banen var full
tett av mennesker
en mor og et lite barn
vi sto inntil hverandre

barnet holdt rundt morens finger
moren snakket lavt til barnet
barnet så seg rundt så på meg

jeg så tilbake
barnet så ikke bort
i en annen tid
kunne jeg vært faren
vært hjemme laget mat
gledet meg til de skulle komme hjem

barnet smiler til meg
jeg forstår ikke
hvordan det skal skje

jeg forstår ikke
når maten er spist
og barnet sover
hva skal jeg si

leser en invitasjon

øynene dine ser rett mot meg
jeg ser rett mot de
strever med å lese
ordene surrer rundt i hodet

om jeg leser en invitasjon
hva vil jeg inviteres på
forsøker å dekke min usikkerhet
har ikke du samme usikkerhet

vil det hjelpe å snakke
om hva jeg tenker på
vil det virkelig styrke
de skjøre trådene mellom oss

lukker øynene
kjenner på kroppen
tenker på ordene
åpner øynene

håper du ikke synes
jeg er sær
vet nå at jeg vil
ta imot din invitasjon

perpetual spirit redresses

looking like a normal person
water well above your ankles
others give but a glance
of the 12 degrees samples

already in you're underwear
you want to throw yourself
into the diamond water
my mouth is full of swear

the look of you
makes me shiver
the need to stand out
to do what is different

mice cleaning the plate
bears celebrating christmas
children who don't eat the cake

an attitude of anomaly
a will to be free
the will to be - not free

the will of life
makes you shine
makes you a part
makes you not mine

and life leaves you
to need and to seek
to be seen by some
to be unique

my little daughter
jumps into the water
8 years in 12 degrees
perpetual spirit redresses

HENNES SANG

HENNES SANG
Av ingen annen årsak enn at jeg elsker ham fullt
er jeg her ; for denne natten i hvert fall
Verden har krympet til et gutteaktig bryst
Som mitt hode, klart og utmattet, hviler på,
Og hodet kan ikke vite om noe mer fullendt.

La soloppgangen samle all sin skyld, sine bekymringer
Om ikke kjærlighet fantes, ville de helt sikkert smitte
Dette perfekte hjertet.
Jeg er så fjernt fra de som solen.
Jeg er så fjernt fra de som mulig er.


HER SONG
For no other reason than I love him wholly
I am here ; for this one night at least
The world has shrunk to a boyish breast
On which my head, brilliant and exhausted, rests,
And can know of nothing more complete.

Let the dawn assemble all its guilts, its worries
And small doubts that, but for love, would infect
This perfect heart.
I am as far beyond them as the sun.
I am as far beyond them as is possible.

Brian Patten (English original)

OG SOLEN EI SIN SALGSKRAFT

De sa hennes ord var lik ballonger
med snorer jeg ikke kunne holde,
at hennes kjærlighet fantes i en butikk
billig og altfor rask å selge;

men treet prissetter ikke sine epler
og solen ei sin salgskraft,
regnet sladrer ikke
eller snakker om sin vei.


NOR THE SUN IT'S SELLING POWER
They said her words were like balloons
with strings I could not hold,
that her love was something in a shop
cheap and far too quickly sold;

but the tree does not price it's apples
nor the sun its selling power,
the rain does not gossip
or speak of where it goes.

Brian Patten - original

Tankeløs nå

Hennes skjønnhet blir først senere tydelig,
stiger opp fra henne som varme,
en duft som tar tak i ham - nært.
Fanget av overraskelse i strømmen av henne
har han sluttet å tenke på henne.
Han er som en gresshoppe som driver på et blad,
tankeløs nå.


MINDLESS NOW

Her beauty only later becomes obvious,
rising out of her like heat,
a scent hugging him close as it can.
Caught by surprise in the flow of her
he has ceased to think of her.
He's like a grasshopper adrift on a blade of grass,
mindless now.

Brian Patten, Notes to the Hurrying Man, 1969

IDea

lift the lust off my shoulders
it's bringing me to the knees
and you'll see how weak i am
that i can't carry anything else

our love once raised me
from a reddish scare
to a kingdom's hair

now when love has fallen off
anyplace i look it can't be found
anyplace i look i can't be found

i know i sound unbalanced
but if we were to find some love
it would have to be without me
without the me i know

i run as fast as possible
run from lust that weighs me down
run from love that makes me invisible

run and run - straight into a wall of fog
just to keep destiny from catching me
just to hang on to a string of hope

løse ord

når hun går
sier de at hun ikke var her nok
når hun kommer
sier de at hun ikke er bra nok
når hun kommer
ler kroppen og smilet er et hoppetau
når hun går
gråter kroppen og munnen er et hoppetau
når hun er her
finnes ikke ord

me afraid

i'm afraid
of being alone

i swing around
reach out my hand
and touch no one

no body to climb
hands to hold
no back to lay close

i raise my voice
speak with volume
walk through the rooms
there is no answer

i look in the mirror
i see nothing
but the wall behind me
and some memories
of a woman and myself

i gather strength to meet you
the new love of my life
don't know you yet
but my nerves tell me

you will hold my hand
answer me see me
when the mirror is in front

and i will tremble with fear
of losing you

negligible work

eight to five
the peak hours of the day
giving it all away

the task ain't your choice
what could be could give
what's every day in demand

then you do it
what you think will be
on the other side of the road

in the position
doing work day work
people telling you telling them

we like it brings joy
as we look out the window
seeing the grass grow grass

a few years
everyone knows your doing
doing you by your eight hours

cannot start to cry
cannot say it's not me
so day on day you go

and do what is different
from you should be
a distance between
is now negligible

director's cut

i paint the image
record the video
high on the wall
frame it with furniture
flat and future

you are tipping in
only toes no shoes
you want to be a part
the lead role
in this home made parody

drawings made upon stereotypes
lines copied on movies
black and whites

flowers kisses all beautiful
in a world built upon love
i see you sign the deal
all by your own will

the whole construction
my own simulation
just to cross it out
except you're still in

framed in lovely colors
will you walk around
make a run for the tape
being caught in the roll

in the end of this movie
you'll walk out the door
know the director
don't know the direction
i'm falling from the chair
it's the final cut

rumours of heavenly scissors

got my eyes fixated
on a heaven bluer
than a mediterranean surface

heavenly icons
colors my life
oxyfeeds my million days

here on the ground
i do my daily grind
the dust is all grey
a desert run all mine

hours filled with
clocks ringing people screaming
turning down the volume
taking it in through shades

the sins of my life
only a handful
minutes to count on fingers
the black moments
pinpoints in a grey world

and at every turn every downhill
i think about forgetting
how these sweet things these bad doings
destroy my heaven like a scissor going wild
drag me down
make it tough to get up

don't let anyone
know these dark hours
the stone age of my actions

the clock pulls me by the hair
i'm so heavy the pull so light
any disruption
of this fine tuned balance
and i'll do an evaporation