smARTy

norway's philosophy by norwegiature

hei, alle sammen. my name is kenzie/silja (@norwegiature), and i decided to analyze one of my poems from my book "cherries and sleep". this poem, "norway's philosophy", is very near and dear to my heart, because my family hails from norway. it is based off of an age old saying from norway, "det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlige klær". it translates to the last line of my poem - "there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes." it means to say "weather is natural and our clothes merely do not suit it", but i twisted it to fit with the fact that during the winter my family and i struggle financially. it makes the quote more bitter, for emotional effect.

and here it is.

it's grey outside

our sweaters are falling apart

we slip them on anyway

they're all we have

this is meant to say that old clothes must be worn when you cannot always afford new ones. it's cold and bleak outside, so even though the clothes are in poor condition, we wear them because they're the warmest we have.

winter is cold and dark

struggling to pay bills

we cuddle up in blankets and hope

the warmer months bring money

my parents make more money in the warm weather, because they work construction and the such. we often have to take loans to pay our basic bills for electricity and heating, along with water. we sometimes can't pay heating, so we rely on blankets to keep warm through the harsh winters.

cold weather isn't work worthy

digging into a solid soil

and so socked feet ice skate along cold tile

and ice coats the windows as i tap gently on them

another reference to my parents' jobs - you can't do construction work in snow and solid soil. it keeps you from doing anything quickly enough, and doesn't work sometimes. when you haven't got the money for recreation, you make fun for yourself. sliding on the floor in socks and drawing things into the condensation from the cold entertains me when i get bored.

there is no such thing as bad weather

only bad clothes.

and here's the saying. it punches in the effect, i like to think, and the weather isn't bad; it's that our clothes aren't good enough to withstand it, especially during these times.

From OpheliaSiddall

Thank you so much for your interpretation!

I encourage all of the Readers to show some love to norwegiature by checking her poetry book  cherries and sleep and other works. (you will find link in the first comment on the book cover).

Thank you for your time and see you in the next part. 

[04.04.2019]