SikhSpectrum.com readers remember Minna Hapuoja as the author of the Finnish translation of Japuji Sahib. Minna recently visited Punjab, and the poem Fields So Green is a beautiful effort to capture her experiences in words.
Minna Hapuoja during a recent visit to Punjab
Fields So Green
- Minna Hapuoja
Fields so green
here I have been
before in life I hardly remember
Flowers so gentle
River I see
To this village I surrender
view of endless mist
and I could kiss the ground I once lived
It feels so true, so comfortable and soft
To even walk on these dusty roads
White marbles of Gurdwaras Touch my heart
I walk again the same path
It feels so true
Yet I feel so blue
Roads are busy
But life is not
I fell here my soul belongs
Some faces feel so familiar and warm
They give me a smile
I do not want to go
Even the darkness when evening started
The moon was smiling
Stars sang the hymn
I say the words to hundreds of birds
Did they fly here like me
Did I hear them sing also back home
Did they fly here from the land of Midnight sun
Land of darkness and Northern lights in the sky
The silence is broken by early fog
I am so happy it has not forgot
How to cover this beautiful Punjab so wide
No words are there these feelings to describe
The touch of wind on my skin
I close my eyes and hear them sing
If only I could say
But instead I will pray
These people so happy to be
They gave me cha and held my hand
The warmest and the most honest feeling there is
They let me share with them
No questions to ask
All the answers are in the past
I returned to my land now to be
Trees and ground covered by snow
Same stars in the sky in the night
Northern Lights dancing
And same moon that shines and maybe smiles
I had a photo of this wise old Man
Someones father, someones grandfather
He has seen so much in his life
The bliss that shined on his face
The eyes so deep and gentle
His white beard so grace
His bagh that he wore
He has seen so many wars
I showed this photo to my dear friends daughter
She has hardly seen two years by now
She looked at me with her eyes wide and blue
She said “it is Santa Claus”
And she gave me shy smile
I could not break this little girls dream
Her imagination so innocent and wild
I replied “yes Santa Claus he is.
See these gentle eyes of him,
They have seen so much in this world”
This little girl came and hugged me
And now she really believes
This old wise man really exists
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