Final poem of the Henrik Nordbrandt collection of the same name

OFFSHORE WIND

As the term offshore wind suggests, you saw from the land

the invisible force that made the sea so smooth

that you’d slide out onto it if you did not resist

so clear that the pine trees behind your back

which you otherwise only heard, now suddenly

added their darkness to the depths

that began where the smoothness sharply stopped

and blinding wave-crests crushed

a mirror over the abyss into which we felt

we were doomed to sink: Shards of glass

were scattered and gathered and scattered again

so we smiled, saw ourselves smile, recovered our breath,

and delighted shouted offshore wind, offshore wind again.