I play Haydn after a black day
and feel a simple warmth in my hands.
The keys are willing. Soft hammers strike.
The resonance green, lively, and calm.
The music says freedom exists
and someone doesn't pay the emperor tax.
I push down my hands in my Haydnpockets
and imitate a person looking on world calmly.
Tomas Transomer
A film by Pamela Robertson-Pearce and Neil Astley on the Blood Axe website includes footage of Tranströmer playing his piano.
The poem can be read in full here
