10 Comments
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Pedro Robledo's avatar

Great poem! Here you have a poem about happiness in Kobenhavn, by Morten Søndergaard:

Denmark is the happiest country, Denmark

has the happiest paratroopers and artillery

bottle pickers and butchers and drummers and keepers,

the happiest social workers, the happiest suicides,

the happiest hard of hearing, pilots, janitors, politicians,

priests, pedophiles, the happiest consumers of antidepressants.

In Denmark you have the happiest orgasms and there are

the happiest kisses. Denmark has the happiest weather forecasts.

Denmark has the happiest whores, lottery winners, the

happier

below the poverty line, cancer patients

happier,

the happiest divorces, Denmark has the happiest poets

the happiest insane, Denmark has the happiest

unhappy.

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Weston Parker's avatar

"The happiest unhappy." What a hoot.

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M Sarki's avatar

My favorite poet Jack Gilbert. 🙏👍❤️

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Eleanor Mac Gregor's avatar

Your poem awakened in me happy memories of my year (1960-61) in Kobenhavn. I find myself on tiptoe reaching upward to get at the meaning of the metaphors in your poem.

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Radically accessible poems's avatar

See the Icarus post in my substack from last week.

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Kerry's avatar

I love Pedro's comment!! And the poem- as we in northern hemisphere are descending into solsice dark time - I was turning dour/ reflective - i read Pedro' s comment We could we wake up again- we can All arise into a New World Danish Order of Social Structure- Yippee!!

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Deb Hillyer's avatar

Loved this.... And it resonates!

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My Friend Lisa's avatar

I LOVE this SO much!!! Thank you!!!

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Dian Parker's avatar

Gilbert is really something. A master. Thank you for this.

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Annie H's avatar

"Learning to flower by tightening" That's so interesting! One usually thinks of flowers unfolding. 💐

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