Volcanism by Jónas Þorbjarnarson

Volcanism 
by Jónas Þorbjarnarson (1960-2012)
Translation by Bernard Scudder

We are the ever-changing earth
always taking shape
new maps immediately misleading
new upheavals
I was someone and then I met you. . .
people change each other
even cause eruptions within each other
for deep down we are kindled, determined
by all kinds of magmatic associations
and a mountain of love rises—
lifting the landscape of our lives
we are the ever-changing earth

PHOTO: Iceland volcano by Max Saeling on Unsplash

NOTE: The volcanoes of Iceland include a high concentration of active sites. The island has around 30 active volcanic systems; of these, 13 have erupted since the settlement of Iceland in AD 874. Over the past 500 years, Iceland’s volcanoes have contributed a third of the total global lava output.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jónas Þorbjarnarson (1960-2012) was an Icelandic poet, who wrote about travel, within Iceland and elsewhere.