WALTARI, Mika


Can you remember

Can you remember the fervent days of our youth,

the rapture of the first foreign travels,

the giant arch of the European sky,

the fountain of the Eiffel Tower at night.

Can you remember the metropolis of our dreams,

a world of strong men, of iron and steel,

the wonderful, tanned lustre of young men's bodies

at the stadium.

Oh Olavi, Olavi, our youth,

laughing at the bar table

strewing flowers,

intoxicated by colours, sounds, the sun!

…..
So we departed on diverging paths

towards manhood, – each of us

heeding the call that is greater than ourselves,

the call: Forward!

Let stars rain on that which has passed.