Viking ship glided into the port at two in the morning
The sailors had slept through it, snoring was heard by fish
Aurora Borealis was flashing lavender blue and green lights
A show no human saw that evening, as everyone was sleeping
There were no sounds of oars dipping into the water.
Norway was silent, as were the woods and the ship.
The men slept as soundly as any army ever had.
Morning would be soon enough to start the celebration.
Some had not returned, which is always sad.
Especially when they left behind a young sweetheart.
Or left behind a loving wife with three little Norwegians.
The silent ship drifted in under the smile of Aurora Borealis.
Categories:
norwegians, life, travel,
Form: Free verse
HAIBUN
You are electron microscopic size, but you possess infinitesimal power. Just a single strand of encapsulated RNA, yet you and your brothers SARS and MERS can sicken and kill more complex life.
Covid-19, virion unseen
Bring humans to their knees
Cowering and trembling
You spring up suddenly from nowhere and spread like fire in a parched forest. Devastating stock markets, stopping sports teams, halting concerts and forbidding gatherings over 250 souls. Quarantines of ships and planes. People greedily grasping, fighting and clawing for the important things in life: toilet paper, masks, cleaning supplies, paper towels.
A boon to corporations
Johnson and Johnson, Proctor and Gamble
Secretly happy you are around.
World wide you spread, showing no regard for race, boundaries or politics.
Italians, Iranians, Chinese,
Americans, Norwegians,
Japanese, Brazilians
The world caught unprepared. Scientists scrambling to develop a vaccine. All will breathe a sigh of relief when you cease your rampage. That is until you return, mutated, the same but different and we start all over again.
Categories:
norwegians, environment,
Form: Haibun
The Norwegian club
We went there last night
it was set in a wine bar and the prize,15euro each,
I refused to pay that much.
The bar was almost empty but for a group
of Norwegians who sat whispering in a corner
And there was no one to welcome us.
I was donating some books to the club
left some of them on a table.
No one stirred.
I thought the scene was surreal.
We left and had a meal at a Portuguese
restaurant.
I suppose the books were thrown away
after closing time.
Categories:
norwegians, abuse, analogy, anti bullying,
Form: Blank verse
The lobster smiled at Carlsen on the other side of the table,
never played one before, appropriate his name was Klawvostic,
they say that Carlsen waits for mistakes, there were none,
Carlsen smirked, if I kill him, first I'm supposed to stun.
Once, an insect had fallen from the greasy hair of an opponent,
he had picked up a rook and painstakingly crushed it to death,
Norwegians have no qualms, that's why he was the best,
it would take more than a crustacean and all the rest.
The lobster opted for the crab's gambit, which was refused,
not the first time that he'd created a Zulu pincer he'd been accused;
the game ground along, Carlsen imagined a good shelling,
but who would crack first - there was no way of telling.
Finally, Carlsen reluctantly just had to offer a draw,
the lobster grinned, if that was possible and held out a claw.
Categories:
norwegians, fish, funny, imagination, red,
Form: Prose
Everyone who has money
should drop it in a vat and
anyone who needs money
should take what they need
a Swede, a Dane and two
Norwegians tell Fred, also an
economist who flew in from Yale.
After a three-day seminar in the
Antarctic, the four men sit down
with tankards of ale, each comfy
in a chaise lounge chair on
an ice floe slowly melting.
Back at Yale, CNN interviews Fred
about his book on the seminar.
The CIA is now investigating.
Donal Mahoney
Categories:
norwegians, money,
Form: Blank verse
A The Sea Bird
During the occupation of Norway when many fled to
Sweden or England the new generation has forgotten that
in their hatred of refugees.
I remembered a seabird called Alke which was snared
It was a big bird and needed hours to cook and served with
boiled potatoes and brown gravy which I liked
but I was not keen on the bird it tasted of cod-liver oil
but had to eat some meat usually through tears and mother
hitting me over the head with a wooden spoon.
After the war and little work in factories, the alke was hunted to
near extinction, luckily it was saved in time.
The Norwegians see the world through a fog of self- inflicted fear
feel inundated by a few migrants,
now that the oil price has fallen they would like to see the newcomers,
like the alke, become a rarity
Categories:
norwegians, april, autumn, basketball, best
Form: Sonnet
I married a Norwegian boy
Way back in Nineteen-Forty-One.
That makes my children Norse by half,
My two daughters and only son.
My husband, third generation
American at time of birth,
Never got to see ancestral land
"Ere he was taken from this Earth.
Most of modern Norwegians claim
Lutheran theology their own,
But in pagan days they worshiped
Gods like Odin, Thor and unknown.
Thor wore a belt that gave him power,
And a hammer that gave him might.
In a storm, thunder is Thor's roar,
And his hammer causes bright light.
My opinion of Norwegians is
They've no use now of Gods like Thor,
For they are a very peaceful lot
And in favor of war no more.
Written: 7/24/14
Categories:
norwegians, peace,
Form: Quatrain
Legends abound from society to society
But Norwegians have one that evokes great anxiety
A mythical sea monster of immense proportions
May be fifty-feet long, or its size has some distortions
With enormous tentacles it’s said to have grabbed sailors
Squeezing and consuming the bodies of Nordic whalers
Is the Kraken truly a product of Norwegian lore?
Perhaps its targeted vessels fell to the ocean floor
“Fish tales” are popular in many seas throughout the world
But the Kraken is a squid and many ships it has hurled
Since the concept originated in Norwegian tales
Giant squid sightings are reported wherever man sails
The Kraken is surely a most intriguing sailors’ yarn
But Norwegians take heed of the tall tales that warn
For none wish to test the near-impossible validity
Of a Nordic legend ripe with vivid morbidity
Categories:
norwegians, animal, mystery, sea,
Form: Couplet
When it comes to being romantic
The French have it cut and dried
When they whisper je t'aime
You feel so good inside
The italians are no slouch
When its their turn to say
Cara mia, ti voglio bene
It turns my body to clay
When it comes to romance
We in Wales have a lovely word
We say darling "cariad" i love you
Rwy'n dy garu di, is what you hear
Now you Norwegians
The words sound a bit flexy
But I am sure with your accent
Elsker deg sounds so sexy
The world over knows that
Smile and hug or shake of the hands
Says I love you no matter what
Please writen a verse using your language
I will edit and add it....Seren
Mandy has written
My language is English it's very common here
But I can say I love you and hope you can hear
I love you till the cows come home and until the sun does sleep
I love you for all times, I give you these precious words to keep. xx
Andrea has written
For all gents to impress their newest dear
you can whisper softly into her ear:
"Jetaime", "Querido" " Kuss mich" or "Ti amo"
Its HOW you say it that the girls will love to hear
Categories:
norwegians, love, words, love, i
Form: Light Verse
SCOTSMEN
Though it be strange enough to the rest
For music to soothe the savage breast
Those who choose bagpipes would be Scottish
Strange breed those guys north of the border
Only they would design a kilt to order
In a region where the climate is anything but hottish
Outsiders who try to understand Glaswegians
Think that they almost sound like Norwegians
Well, they are kinda polyglottish
Ah! But thank god they are excellent engineers
The steam engine was perfected with no peers
In a style uniquely James Wattish
Categories:
norwegians, funny,
Form: Verse
Jabberwocky Redux
After reading too much Aquinas
Would an aphid reside in an onager’s ear
if the onager’s master spoke Twi?
Or a Gascony scop with a leper elope
if a civet leapt out of a tree?
You doubt it? Read Thomas and see.
Would an addax in Denmark gyrate
if an emu in Sweden bore freight?
Or an eland in Chile complain
if jerboas in Goa refrain?
You doubt it? Read Thomas and see.
For really I thought ‘twas the onager taught
the aphid the tenor of Twi, and
that Gascony scops with Norwegians eloped
when Danes had lepers to tea.
You doubt it? Read Thomas and see.
Donal Mahoney
Categories:
norwegians, confusion
Form: Free verse
Let Any Agnostic Provide a Reply
After reading too much Aquinas
Would an aphid reside in an onager’s ear
if the onager’s master spoke Twi?
Or a Gascony scop with a leper elope
if a civet leapt out of a tree?
You doubt it? Read Thomas and see.
Would an addax in Denmark gyrate
if an emu in Sweden bore freight?
Or an eland in Chile complain
if jerboas in Goa refrain?
You doubt it? Read Thomas and see.
For really I thought ‘twas the onager taught
the aphid the tenor of Twi, and that
Gascony scops with Norwegians eloped
when Danes had lepers to tea.
You doubt it? Read Thomas and see.
Donal Mahoney
Categories:
norwegians, faith
Form: Free verse