Poetry fika - David Whyte and others

I organized a small poetry fika this past weekend, featuring a few poems by David Whyte as well as poems the other participants brought. Here were the three I chose:

• The Lightest Touch, about creating (and to me, consuming) poetry.
• Twice Blessed, about awe.
• Stone, about home.

We were a small group of five this time, since the cozy cafe where we met (Kvarteret Rosendal) was on the smaller side.

Among other things, we discussed the challenges of translating poetry, and whether a translation can ever give us the kind of access to the “soul” of the poet that an original can. And we pointed out some examples where the translation actually felt more poignant and beautiful than the original. We also talked about whether, depending on how much the feeling of the poem changes, the transalation can still even be considered that same poem or if it is a new work of art by the translator (this reminded me a lot of the definition of art philosophy seminar from the other week).

I lifted my hands

and then my eyes

and I allowed myself

to be astonished

by the great

everywhere

calling to me

like an old

and unspoken

invitation

• Excerpt from Twice Blessed by David Whyte

Sunday sketching at Leijon

On Sunday morning I went to an art meetup, where we got coffee and snacks and just sat there and drew together. I loved drawing before I got into programming. Programming, to me, was an equivalent type of art - just a different medium to get your ideas out into the world.

I’m no longer any good at drawing, so I guess I’ll need to attend more of these to get more practice.

The next sketching meetup is at Gustavianum - very excited to finally see it.

Running back to the mounds in Gamla Uppsala

After the sketching it was time for another run to Gamla Uppsala.

We walked around the grave mounds, explored the church, and had some recovery fika at Odinsborg before heading back.

We took it slow, especially on the run back, and my calves feel much less dead this time.