20th of February

The day came, I was 37.

The years keep piling up.

But no more of that.

I'm not alone on this day,

I share it with three of my kin,

three people I remember

each time this day comes

to add weight to my shoulders.

The birthday of my great-uncle,

the one who drowned in a well

aged seven. So

long have you slept, Väinö.

The day of death of his father,

my great-grandfather,

who died when his son

would have turned 47.

Jaakko, he survived the civil war

through cunning and bravado.

The day of death of my grandmother,

my great matriarch of a grandmother,

aged 77 on the day I turned 19

and did not go to the hospital

to see her die. Katri,

Kaisa, the one we all looked up to.

20.02.2014