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Poetry

Another Letter to Mister Brown

By Kristín Svava Tómasdóttir
Translated from Icelandic by Meg Matich

Did you never get my letter, Mister Brown?
it was aurora pink and glittery and I poured perfume from the tester all over it
Mister Brown, “I’m just a girl
standing in front of a boy
asking him to love me,”
do I look like a terrorist?

I am not the (hu)man with the wine
I’m a completely different (hu)man when I’m drunk I am more (hu)man a stronger and bigger (hu)man
when I’m drunk

greed, ambition, the crazy jealousy
are not characteristics characteristic of me
arrogance, lying, double-dealing, selfish—no!
heavy partings have made me light
now I can finally show my right face
now I can finally show my tender, tranquil, moderate, content face
sometimes the eyes in me are so blue
they startle me in the mirror
do I look like a terrorist?

You are the main man, Mister Brown
I am just a victim of circumstance
these difficult circumstances
I’m just a bureaucrat
in an evil state

I have a very mature view of civilian society
and I say:
won’t somebody think of the children?
wild animals in the field, those fierce lions and wild bears don’t neglect their offspring
but Mister Brown, now there’s something else
let’s not let the children inhale tobacco smoke
let’s not let them not inhale the oppressive atmosphere of such barbaric displays
do they look like terrorists?

I have a very mature view of the body of the nation
And I am quite afraid that we often need to amputate at the shoulder
Let’s not let the children inhale
tobacco smoke guides them to their seats with evil men

Mister Brown
I have sent you a letter
I have demonstrated that we can full well work together
you have failed repeatedly
you have humiliated me
you get no more chances, Mister Brown
I prefer to look at this as insult to injury
in the next letter, there won’t be any glitter. No glitter, Mister Brown
I do not look like a terrorist

English

Did you never get my letter, Mister Brown?
it was aurora pink and glittery and I poured perfume from the tester all over it
Mister Brown, “I’m just a girl
standing in front of a boy
asking him to love me,”
do I look like a terrorist?

I am not the (hu)man with the wine
I’m a completely different (hu)man when I’m drunk I am more (hu)man a stronger and bigger (hu)man
when I’m drunk

greed, ambition, the crazy jealousy
are not characteristics characteristic of me
arrogance, lying, double-dealing, selfish—no!
heavy partings have made me light
now I can finally show my right face
now I can finally show my tender, tranquil, moderate, content face
sometimes the eyes in me are so blue
they startle me in the mirror
do I look like a terrorist?

You are the main man, Mister Brown
I am just a victim of circumstance
these difficult circumstances
I’m just a bureaucrat
in an evil state

I have a very mature view of civilian society
and I say:
won’t somebody think of the children?
wild animals in the field, those fierce lions and wild bears don’t neglect their offspring
but Mister Brown, now there’s something else
let’s not let the children inhale tobacco smoke
let’s not let them not inhale the oppressive atmosphere of such barbaric displays
do they look like terrorists?

I have a very mature view of the body of the nation
And I am quite afraid that we often need to amputate at the shoulder
Let’s not let the children inhale
tobacco smoke guides them to their seats with evil men

Mister Brown
I have sent you a letter
I have demonstrated that we can full well work together
you have failed repeatedly
you have humiliated me
you get no more chances, Mister Brown
I prefer to look at this as insult to injury
in the next letter, there won’t be any glitter. No glitter, Mister Brown
I do not look like a terrorist

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