Dag T. Straumsvåg was born in 1964 and raised along the rugged, sparsely populated coastline of northwestern Norway. He has worked at various times as farm hand, sawmill worker, librarian, and at a local rock station in Trondheim, where he has lived since 1964. A Bumpy Ride to the Slaughterhouse (translated by Robert Hedin and Louis Jenkins) was published by Red Dragonfly Press in 2006.
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Robert Hedin is the author, translator, and editor of nearly two dozens books of poetry and prose, including The Old Liberators: New and Selected Poems and Translations. The recipient of many honors and awards for his work, including three National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, two Minnesota Book Awards, and the Loft Award of Distinction in Poetry, he serves as director of the Anderson Center, an artist retreat, in Red Wing, Minnesota, and co-edits Great River Review. TVILLINGAR
Jon og Liv kan ikkje få eigne tårer, så dei spør ein mann om han vil vere surrogatmor for tårene deira. Dei har prøvd alt: sorg, smerte, sjølvpåførd glede, men ingen tårer kjem. Så når mannen aksepterer, er det som ei nådegåve. Dei inseminerer han med dei mest utsøkte kjenslene sine, og avtalar at han skal fø heime. Når tida kjem, leier dei han varsamt inn på soverommet, og bind hendene og føtene hans til sengestolpane med lange, gule silkeband. Så stikk Jon ein finger i ribbeina på mannen, og mannen stønnar. Liv stryk han over panna og stønnar saman med han. Når Jon stikk hardare, skrik mannen, og ei tåre fell frå det eine auget hans. “Sjå!” jublar Liv. Når Jon stikk han igjen, fell endå ei tåre. “Tvillingar!” ropar Liv, og går ned på kne for å kysse handa som matar dei.
TWINS
Jon and Liv can’t have tears of their own, so they invite a man to be the surrogate mother of their tears. They’ve tried everything: grief, pain, self-inflicted joy, but no tears come. So when the man agrees, it’s like a gift of grace. They inseminate him with their most exquisite emotions and arrange for him to give birth at home. When the time comes, they lead him gently into the bedroom, and tie his hands and feet to the bedposts with long yellow silk ribbons. Then Jon pokes the man in the ribs, and the man moans. Liv strokes his forehead and moans right along with him. When Jon pokes him harder, the man screams, and a tear falls from one of his eyes. “Look!” Liv rejoices. When Jon pokes him again, another tear falls. “Twins!” Liv yells, and get down on her knees to kiss the hands that feed them.
ANNA
Etter å ha fødd to fine søner, la Anna eit egg. Fødselslegen rådde henne til å ruge ut egget på sjukehuset, men det var opp til ho sjølv. Veninnene hennar sa at ingen ruga på sjukehuset lenger, ho burde ruge heime på gamlemåten. Mora hennar sa at ho ikkje var hønete nok. Faren hennar sa at han skulle halshogge den jævla hanen. Men Anna stod på sitt. Ho ville grave ned egget i sanden på ei tropisk øy. Akkurat som havskjelpadda som sym fleire hundre mil gjennom djupet og rett tilbake til stranda der ho blei fødd: lyden av bølgjer og skrikande fuglar, utsvoltne øgler som nasar i sanden etter mat... og så, det ville floget ned til havet.
ANNA
After giving birth to two fine sons, Anna laid an egg. Her obstetrician advised her to hatch the egg in the hospital, but the decision was up to her. Her girlfriends said no one hatched at hospitals any more; she should hatch at home in the old fashioned way. Her mother said she wasn’t hennish enough yet. Her father said he would decapitate the bloody rooster. But Anna stood her ground. She wanted to bury the egg on a tropical island. Just as sea turtles do, the kind that swim thousands of miles through the deep and navigate back to the beach where they were born: the sound of waves and birds crying, starved lizards scavenging the sand for food…then, the wild flight down to the surf.