#Dag T. Straumsvag

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

[Thanks Darrell Grizzle]

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When I was young, exorcisms were quite common, a remedy not unlike ice baths. Plus, devils were shorter in those days just as people were. They hadn't eaten enough fruits or vegetables, and lacked essential vitamins and iron, grew thin and pale, fell easily into brooding depressions. They looked more like deer than sheep, and when they possessed you it was usually because they were fleeing from someone else and didn't realize where they were until it was too late. It was more a question of giving directions than driving them out. "Turn right at the hairdresser's, go straight until you get to the abandoned schoolhouse, then turn left. You should see the exit from there." "Thank you. I was completely lost." "You're welcome. Good luck." "You too, and thanks again."

- Dag T. Straumsvåg translated by Robert Hedin At the Great Door of Morning

[whiskey river]

[xavieralexander1980]

The Lost Land Translated from the Norwegian by Robert Hedin and the author by Dag T. Straumsvag After three weeks of traveling, I finally arrive back at the place where I was born.  By the boarded-up gas station, I see a man my own age.  "I grew up in that house over there," I say, pointing to the vacant lot of weeds.  He doesn't say a word.  "You and I were best friends.  We played Cowboy and Indians every day, we searched for Nazi treasures in the abandoned gravel pit.  Don't you remember?"  He doesn't answer. "We climbed Mount Everest together, we bicycled the Sahara, we patrolled the Great Wall of China...No, I'm just kidding.  I've never seen you before in my life."  Then his face lights up.  "Yes, I remember now.  It was a fantastic time.  For years, I've carried around this emptiness inside, a great sadness.  I was soaring like a dragon over a scorched landscape, nothing but smoking charcoal and dead trees.  It was terrible.  You have no idea how I suffered."  He grabs my hand, promising this time he'll write, this time he will never forget.

Colorado Review Pg. 156 44.2  2017