The Lost Land
- The Lost Land
After three weeks of traveling, I finally arrive back at the place where I was born. By the boarded-up gas station, I see a man my own age. “I grew up in that house over there,” I say, pointing to the vacant lot of weeds. He doesn’t say a word. “You and I were best friends. We played Cowboys and Indians every day, we searched for Nazi treasures in the abandoned gravel pit. Don’t you remember?” He doesn’t answer. “We climbed Mount Everest together, we bicycled the Sahara, we patrolled the Great Wall of China . . . No, I’m just kidding. I’ve never seen you before in my life.” Then his face lights up. “Yes, I remember now. It was a fantastic time. For years I’ve carried around this emptiness inside, a great sadness. I was soaring like a dragon over a scorched landscape, nothing but smoking charcoal and dead trees. It was terrible. You have no idea how I suffered.” He grabs my hand, promising this time he’ll write, this time he will never forget. [End Page 156]
Dag T. Straumsvåg was born in Kristiansund, a city on the sparsely populated coastline of western Norway, and has lived in Trondheim since 1964. He is the author of three books of poetry, most recently The Lure-Maker from Posio, published by Red Dragonfly Press.
Robert Hedin is the author, translator, and editor of two dozen books of poetry and prose. At the Great Door of Morning: Selected Poems and Translations is forthcoming from Copper Canyon Press in 2017. He lives in Frontenac, Minnesota.
