My windows looked south

   into the fountain

   across the Parkveien

      just past the roses above the steel fence

      over the windowsill

   Trickling of water a constant reminder

      of the rains of Bergen

      though today the sky is Aegean blue

      and the birch leaves are aglow

         with the brilliance and warmth

         over the cedars of Lebanon

            the olives of Tuscany

            and the vines of Sonoma

Down the hill

   from the red church

      to the fish market

   Blanched faces and their squinting eyes

      beholding the Nordic summer sun

   Grunts of Fords, Fiats, Opels, Volvos, VWs and Hondas

      past a man, a trombone and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"

   Whiffs of salmon, tuna, whale, caviar,

      lobster, scallop, prawn, crab --

      -- boiled, chilled, served in the shell for kr45

          soft, most, briny morsels

          sided by tangy berrys for kr15 more --

      Sirens, alarms, Nokia phones

         A Babel of Norsk, English, Deutsch, Français,  

         Nippongu, Putonghua holding camcorders, postcards

         and ice cream cones...what is the taste of Irish Mist?

         ...unskyld, tusen takk, vaer så god

 

         Up the hill

      back to the university

and the Parkveien

   Past the Catholic church

            the Arab kebobs

            the streetside basketball game

            the library

            the carnival at Lille Lundgegårdsvann

A cloud of impressions, their immediacy soon

            to be remembered, not felt

            to be reminisced, not relived

As ephemeral as these balmy days

of Bergen-by-the-Mediterranean

CW, 10th July 1999

Photos are taken with the Nikon F100, 28mm f2.8 lens, scanned ISO200 film.

Norway 1999