To See Clearly Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

To see clearly

Over a cold Nordic coast a seagull flies
between the island and the mainland by ferry 20 minutes
but time is of no interest to a bird.
It was an old seagull it knew me when I was a cook on
the ferry and it waited for me to throw scraps overboard
it shrieked fiercely I took that as a thank you.
The ferry was sold to an African state after the bridge was built
they used it for contraband, and I think of my spotless kitchen.
The gull moved to the outer island, and anyway scraps of food
thrown into the sea is against the law.
Waste food is good for the life at sea I can`t say the same about
plastic wrappings were floating about the inner harbour.
The day is clear I`m a seagull and can clearly see the past but
need glasses to see the future I see those who took up arms
against the tyranny of the exceptional capitalism.
Falluja is the name the downtrodden took up arms, they lost
but showed the world we need not buckle under USA`s
weaponry, you can`t kill faith.
The old seagull flies beside me now harshly shrieks the way
we seagulls greet each other.