Musts composes this poetry in his native Latvian, then translates into English. His poem, “Destination,” appears here in both languages.
A līdz B
No punkta A līdz punktam B,
Esmu atkal mājās, Vidzemē!
Kur gaisa vētras putni kliedz
Un pagastu pagalmos bērni zviedz.
Kur vīri dāmām ar acīm miedz
un pēcāk sārtu rozi sniedz.
Silts mīļums virmo māju gaisā,
Šeit Alūksnē – mūsu pilsētā skaistā.
Beidzot savā mēlē man domas raisās
un latvju pusdienas virtuvē taisās.
No punkta B līdz punktam A,
Es esmu tālā svešumā.
Kur dīķos svešas zivis lēkā,
Un cilvēki viens par otru dēkā.
Daži laimīgi, daži krīt pašu grēkā.
Es jūtos viens un ilgojos šai ēkā.
Destination
From point A to point B
I’m back in my cold home country,
a place where storm petrels always screech –
a place where I always used to dream.
I’m here in my cold home country, and
people around begin to look like strangers.
This place where I always used to dream,
has become a blurry image in front of me. At least so it seems.
People are looking at me a bit strangely
because I think differently now.
Home, now just a blurry image in front of me. It seems
to be lost inside of myself.
I think differently now.
Home is not a place anymore.
It’s a feeling that can never be lost.
Sometimes it’s forgotten, but never gone.
Home is not a place, but a feeling
that can only be found in my heart.
I will never forget that, will never have to go
and look for my home.
A place that can be found in my heart
is set in stone.
Finally, I found my home,
a place I can call my own.