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Gullfoss

  • 9 May 2022 12:45
    Message # 12772772

    úða

    At Gullfoss I walk along an ash path
    with rope either side telling me
    in a language I don’t understand
    and can’t pronounce
    to keep off the rocks.
    Who needs words anyway;
    rope has its own universal language.
    A waterfall in Iceland. Famous.
    Saved from commercial hydro-power
    By one woman, it’s said.

    I hear before I see, feel
    before I hear.

    What I feel is gentle. A moist
    bloom on my face, the backs
    of my chilled hands.
    What I hear is a low roar,
    a rumble, a surging.
    What I see deceives
    the gentleness. A force of twice
    as much hydrogen as oxygen
    compounding to billow
    the chasm they’ve pounded
    over centuries.

    I stand in awe, trying to let
    my brain process the
    aberration of my senses;
    how dare the feel of the úða
    betray hearing and sight.
    Yet how could the spate of ear
    and eye yield not spite
    but samúð.


    úða ( pronounced oother, as in smoother) is Icelandic for spray, 

    and samúð (pronounced samoothe) for gentle compassion

    2 files
    Last modified: 9 May 2022 12:46 | Paul Booth
  • 12 May 2022 16:16
    Reply # 12777747 on 12772772

    Great response to the amazing experience of Gullfoss.

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