Once

^{translated from the Danish by Jennifer Russell and Sophia Hersi Smith}

Once:
a room
a typewriter
a job
an alarm clock
a loneliness
a hope.

Now:
an apartment
a summerhouse
things
a husband
three children
status
friend
lover
housekeeper
neglected
graves
hairdresser
psychiatrist
money
complication
lack of
joy.

Good things come
to those who wait
my mother said
longing and
understanding
came to her
too late.
She died in
the nursing home
knowing
no one.

People misunderstand
each other for
the most part.
She had
beautiful hands.
Unnoticed
life slipped away.