New Swedish Books, Spring 2018 1
New Swedish Books 40 How Much I Was Missed Here F
aithfully, Jila Mossaed’s poetic voice speaks to nature and the forces that guide the universe. Larks and hoopoes come on nocturnal visits to her bedroom, as do disembodied voices from all the four corners of the world. It’s where she invites trees in for a cup of tea, dances with the silence and dreams of seeing her mother once more. “It was your dust / that remembered me in the night” is one of the many lines that creates a connection between the living and the dead. Over the course of the book the room’s four walls disappear one by one. Memory moves freely through time and space and allows the poetry to open itself up to eternity. These poems are written by a contemporary mystic, but are characterised by clear language and a direct mode of address. And yet they beg for an even greater simplicity, to one day get to be wordless sounds. Jila Mossaed (b. 1948) How Much I Was Missed Here Publisher Lejd www.lejd.se Ett ljud som bara jag kan poems 2012 Jag föder rådjuret poems 2015 Rights Lejd info@lejd.se Selected Works Varje natt kysser jag markens fötter poems 2009 Selected Literary Prizes ABF:s litteratur- och konststipendium 1999 Aftonbladets litteraturpris 2015 Gustaf Fröding-sällskapets lyrikpris 2016 Photo: Eva Bergström