Choice

It was in the middle of October, the last
day of the season at the summer place.
Everything arranged, tidied and closed up.
The taxi boat that was to take care of the transport
from our islet to the mainland
was already approaching the jetty.
Then I heard a nervous pecking from the attic window;
a tit shut in, unable to get out.
So: unlock again, break a pane up there,
release the frightened bird. Ask the boat to wait.
For one short moment I wondered if it would be best
to say nothing to the others, to forget
the alarm signals from the shut-in creature.
Everything was just as usual, no anxiety, routine
that held, rock-solid!
But what sort of solidarity – one chooses.



from Den sextonde månaden (The Sixteenth Month) by Tomas Mikael Bäck
Schildts Förlags Ab, Helsingfors, 2005 (my tr.)