Part 16: WARM SCANDINAVIAN JOY

Warm Scandinavian Joy
The Killing of the Dictator
He Can Comfort a Child
Rain Flight
Djuturna's Breasts
Small Woman and Ducklings
The Queen of the Gods
.

Warm Scandinavian Joy

…Pahn awakens in a gray-lavender room

…

Pahn is looking at a Scandinavian estuary 

              The river flows clear      and green      riffling

               over the sandbar

                                  into an inlet      sheltered

                  from the ocean    

by a small 

                                 

    island                                

  

Pahn is swimming    in the warm

Scandinavian      joy

floating

in calm pleasure

…

Across the Nordic

summer field             Pahn sees

a woman in black underwear

bending over                                           

to pick something up in her yard

…

Aiks comes into the gray-lavender room

and talks casually to Pahn 

Pahn becomes aroused      and Aiks

accuses him of wanting

the woman in the field  

Pahn takes Aiks’ hand     and leads her

to the bed where he

pushes her onto the mattress   and holds her wrists…

…He steps away from her to find

she is the other woman    and looking down

he sees her skin surrounding     and

as he ascends

 into the wrinkled

hose

he sees white crystals

pushing out the open top…

…In the gray-lavender room 

Pahn is looking at the covers        while Aiks

is packing Pahn finds a cache

of broken    colored glass    

hidden in a fold of sheets     He takes it

to a corner of the room        where he finds also

colored beads              He imagines

it is part of someone’s project

but Aiks

knows nothing about it 

Pahn imagines                                                  

the creative possibilities

of the materials

…

They have gone down the coast

from Norway to northern California      and found

another river                            

flowing into the ocean 

Here the river is clear

and golden          

flowing over

 fine gravel

 directly                         

 into the ocean              

Pahn contemplates the interface

between    

fresh   and salty water

and comments                                    

that the river                   

    prevents anything from entering it 

Aiks says                                                                             

“It has a dog with sharp

                                        jagged jaws

that scares away intruders” 

Pahn                                                                               

looks at the water and sees only a row of rocks

delineating the limit of intrusion

and can’t quite see how

just those rocks

                   could keep out an ocean

         but is willing to consider it

The Killing of the Dictator

…Pahn has come into a room

A friend of Pahn’s is sitting

on the floor nearby    working

with beads and rags 

A random Roman dictator                                       

comes into the room    and                    

stands in front of Pahn      taking

a nonchalant

     amused

         and challenging stance 

These thoughts run quickly through Pahn’s mind—

that the dictator is mean                     

       and heartless

                        having no redeeming characteristics

      that he persists                                          

in his position of authority    because

no one has the nerve

        to do away with him

            that the dictator will assume                            
Pahn is harmless                    

(because Pahn exudes

             kindness and sympathy)

that the dictator will therefore              

leave himself open to attack

  

Pahn pulls his scimitar from its sheath                     

and takes the stance                               

of Hindu warrior                         

from the time of Asoka 

The dictator mocks him 

They circle the room once or twice

Pahn thrusts the sword                                                         

into the dictator’s chest 

Pahn knows that he hasn’t pierced               

   the heart     and thrusts again

Still he is not sure of a kill                           

and slices the dictators neck

on both sides

  

The dictator slumps and dies 

Pahn’s friend mumbles approval

             without looking up from his beads

               and rags

…

Pahn has been with a woman  for a while

He sits now                                      

by the corner of a building

working on the ground 

He is afraid                                      

that the authorities

                 or the dictators supporters

will come after him.

He isn’t sure                                    

if anyone will know

                                that he has killed the dictator

He can’t even remember                 

     what he has done with the body 

He isn’t sure                                   

  if he should be scared     or not 

He Can Comfort a Child

In a modern house

             a living-room             

              an easy chair       Pahn

 is reading comfortably                      

He hears voices from the next room—

a classroom

the professor speaking sternly     and in anger

to a mother and child    

who have done something wrong

 

“And you    are to blame”

The professor says to the mother                                                                                                

“Now you must take your child out of the class

and I suggest you go away for a while

and think about this” 

Pahn hears the door open                                       

to the adjacent foyer                                    

      and listens as the nearly distraught

      mother

speaks to the little girl                 

“You are going to stay with Pahn while I go out”

  she repeats

“You stay with Pahn until I get back”

 and he hears the outside door close  

Pahn sets down his book     calmly                                  

and gets up 

He walks into the foyer                       

and to the front door                             

    which he opens to look out     where

he sees the mother trying                           

desperately

     to negotiate the yard       in her car 

       There are       many obstacles                              

and Pahn wanders how     

and why    

she parked her car there

He closes the door                                                   

He feels concern     for the mother                           

but is certain      that she will be all right 

He knows                                                                 

that he cannot help her                               

 

            Instead                                                       

 he turns to the child  

He kneels down                                                              

               in front of her                                                

   He sees             she is on the verge of tears              

                                    

       He opens       his arms to her                             

                                                 

He is not sure     if she will     come to him

because she doesn’t know him     

      but she trusts him immediately

    and rushes into his embrace

 

    The two go                                                     

 into the living room        

where they sit

down near the door    to the kitchen                                      

 There                                                                                                                        

       while she plays safely    and happily on the floor

Pahn watches her                                 

with the greatest confidence

               and contentment     knowing

that if he can

               only do one thing

it is                                    

to comfort a child

Rain Flight

.

He hears ...that a distant plane                                       
has crashed                                          

In the rain                                                     
among rescuers                                  
at the sea     an even darkness 
                     windy squalls
he seeks              
         to fly
through bad weather                               
      on the watery rough
and lifts   
                          his wings    uncertain
if it were he                      
who went down                               
or will go down                                         
or has the ability to rise     
                                                into the falling air

                                                                  He takes off over
                      the blackened beach

                                                  skirting
                                                         the inclined deck of a pier
                                                                               to fitfully ascend
                   and drop
                                                       under the gale
                                                                        never sure
                                                                                    if he will

                              pitch
                                                                                                  or soar
.