The Boy by the Window

Look how you sit there – 
calmly, disturbing no one, 
not speaking, perched 
on that chair in the corner. 

You wait for invisibility, 
for no one to notice 
that you’ve sat down 
right there. 

And there you stay, 
counting invisible 
goat kids – 
not to sleep, 

but maybe 
so they’ll make you 
just as invisible 
as they are right now. 

The kid goats say: 
“What they don’t know 
is that your size is your strength. 
You are closer to the earth 
and closer to the heavens. 

You are connected to the stars and the moon, 
your body, a spaceship, a living essence. 
Blue moon, red moon – it’s all your space, 
and the Milky Way, that is your dream.” 

They don’t know that the air sparkles, 
that the trees talk to you, 
and that you hear them 
and understand them. 

The walls they have built 
are beautiful, made of glass. 
Everything outside 
also exists inside. 

Everything exists here: the Earth, 
all the planets in the solar system. 
There is space for 
a hundred billion stars. 

The kid goats whisper: 
“There is space for everyone. 
Everyone can take part. 
Take part!” 

You are a part of it all. 

“You are both inside and outside,” 
say the kid goats. 
“Look!” 
say the kid goats. 

“And if you don’t believe us, 
look at your reflection in the window” 

 

Image: Sverre Fehn (1924–2009), Framtidsvillan / Villa Norrköping, Nasjonalmuseet. Foto: Teigens fotoatelier/DEXTRA Photo/Norsk Teknisk Museum