Meandering home

Reading: Outbound by Greg Williamson

Greg Williamson (b. 1964) is known for his 'double exposure', a technique where poems can be read in multiple ways. I approach his verse without any theoretical pre-study though, the same way I would approach life. The following poem is beautifully crafted, it holds the lyricism of yore in a floating frame of free existentialist ...

18 January, 2018

anthology, Greg Williamson, train

Poetry

Reading: Vacation by William Stafford

William Stafford (1914-1993) was a very prolific American writer who was born in Kansas and died in Oregon. From his many works I selected, with the help of Szeslaw Milosz, a short observation about traveling: Vacation One scene as I bow to pour her coffee:-- ____Three Indians in the scouring drouth ____huddle at the grave scooped in ...

13 December, 2017

anthology, funeral, train, William Stafford

Poetry

Kiev to Lviv

After visiting the beautiful Crimea, I took the night train back to Kiev, where I spent a few more days writing and hanging out with very kind Ukraineans. My plan was to go hitchhiking to the Netherlands to celebrate Christmas with my family. Since I had good experiences fetching a ride up north, I thought ...

19 December, 2008

flight, Kiev, Lviv, train

Travel

Kiev #1. мистер снек.

The trainride was comfortable, and the other three guys on the bunk beds in my compartment were very friendly. They offered me some cold chicken for dinner. We spoke in some kind of Russian-English that I came to like as the train rushed to the Ukrainean border. We went to bed, only to sleep a ...

13 December, 2008

Kiev, mister snek, Moscow, train

Travel

A 27 Hour Trainride.

In the morning, Alyona brought me to the station with the tram, where a woman sold the tickets on board. The train was already there, but I had to wait to get in. My passport was doublechecked and I entered a clean new waggon (you might be less lucky if you try to take a ...

27 November, 2008

Murmansk, St Petersburg, train

Travel

Finally: Lapland

The next day I said goodbye to Tuomo and tried to hitchhike to Rovaniemi. This turned out to be very difficult. I remember walking along a highway, and decided I had had enough, so I got back to Oulu, where I waited in a "cafe de Provence" for my train to Rovaniemi, writing, of course. ...

6 November, 2008

Obama, Rovaniemi, Santa, sauna, train

Travel