It is six o'clock and it is a wonderful spring evening, the buds on the birch trees are begining to break, the birds are singing they love melodies in the trees so what do you do? Well naturally you go down to the biggest graveyard in Helsinki and walk among the graves for an hour and a half an listen to readings of poems by female Finnish poets from the past century.
Poems by nurses, librarians, painters, housemaids, ordinary women writing about life, and even though more than a century has gone the same themes bring joy, the same injustices bring anger, the same hurts and pains are still being felt. The TV cameras were there. They were making a programme for mothers day and it will be broadcast this coming sunday on a YLE programme called KULT. If you see a bald headed man in a blue top always jumping in front of the camera that was me.
Alli Nissinen who founded the "Martta" women's movement wrote of a drunken man who abused his horse, and then for one day the tables were turned and the horse was given the chance to rule his master. The horse was not merciful and he made his old drunken master pay dearly. You are left with the impression of how can such a noble horse behave so badly, then you realise that the horse was only doing to the master what had been done to him. A sort of sly way of saying "love your neighbour as yourself"
An exception was made and there was one poem by Jorma Etto (a man) was read at the grave of Helle Kannila (a librarian). It was called "The Librarian" and the reader had everyone in stiches with the reading of this poem which was a dialogue of a conversation between a rather officious librarian who was ever so willing to offer solutions to the problems of his bewildered customers. It is very fine to hear over one hundred people laugh out loud in the open air. I managed to talk to the reader of the poem and got a copy of it. Here is my translation
The librarian by Jorma Etto
What do you want to know, just ask me
I have answers to everything.
A moment please!
I'll look through my index cards.
How to live
How to read the Bible
How to achieve happiness
(even you Miss Finland)
Excuse me can you say
how to get rid of stupid worries,
how can I live joyfully,
how should I decorate my appartmentl,
what day of the week is it,
You see I just want to know
where should I go on my summer holidays.
(how is your soul today
Professor Sutinen is it a problem
how to tell about the Prophets to your children
and is Christ being confessed in Helsinki)
Good evening Mrs Kataja
raining again.
(like it always is when you come here)
You want to know how it is going with Europe
You tire yourself too much dear woman
It can't be true that your husband
doesn't know how to catch a pike
(your questions are really all the same
how to search for truth)
Wait a moment, wait a moment.
I'll look it up in my index.
Good night, see you again.
Good night now, good night
You wonderful ladies.
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