The Far Distance Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

The far distance

I remember well the gone days we sat in the corner
of a restaurant for quasi-intellectuals talking about the book,
we were going to write, telling it like it was.
As the evening progressed, fueled by alcohol, we believed
in our uniqueness, come tomorrow.
Walking home, a rented room, the dream was fading
unmade bed, library book not handed, in shattered around
half read and dog eared.
The grey morning and the self-loathing of a misfit trying
to sleep a bit longer, overwhelmed by utter wretchedness.
The white fog of loneliness, cigarettes and coffee.
To escape, half of my life, I have lived in a country not mine
the morning is sunny, the solitude persists the illusion is
a stark reality tempered by mild weather.
No, there is no flight from oneself, but life is what it is.
But the dream continues; sad is the life of exile