Category: Sweden | Page 2 | Mediterranean Poetry

Wilhelm Höjer – a married Roman Catholic experienced in Western philosophy, teaching, journalism and history. Since moving to Fernandina Beach, Florida, with my wife and family, I have been teaching at a Classical Christian school. I have previously worked in the field of journalism for the Vatican Radio, in Vatican City, under Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. I have experience working with people from a range of backgrounds and I have lectured in Rome on Roman History, Christian History and Political History. I enjoy new challenges and building community. I am fluent in English, Swedish, and proficient in Italian.

I have served in various professional roles, often in teaching positions. My first employment was as a lecture guide through the city of Rome and its surroundings. During my seven years in the editorial office of Vatican Radio, I was able to convey complex ecclesial and political questions in a simple and relevant way. Through my work as journalist in the print media I have been able to work with important social issues. Recently I have been working as a Latin teacher for high school students and a Literature teacher specializing in Dante.

I grew up in Sweden, Norway, Italy and the United States, while my parents were employed in the Swedish foreign service. I have studied at an American, Swedish and Pontifical university. Through my international background I have developed an ability to think and act in a way that invites contact and understanding. I have a good work ethic and an ability to look positively at life.

Poetry below from the forthcoming collection

Poems from Earth

(A Mediterranean Odyssey)

by

Wilhelm Höjer

Origins

Here you were washed ashore
among the numerous starfish of Heaven
under your feet.

Here you began your pilgrimage
upon foreign land like a lizard which scurries
in a Roman ruin.

Here you found your family’s poems
inside ancient marble crushed asunder by gravity
within an hourglass.

Here you saw your dreams fly
like a flock of wild birds before the morning light
over a cathedral.

Here you received the gift of words
as one tosses a fresh meat bone to a hungry dog
on a Persian rug.

Here you were introduced to pain
as the animalistic love between two yearning souls
in separate cages.

Here you still stand and stare
with the remembrance of all things directed inward
towards yourself.

Rafaello: Girl with unicorn

A wind which cools
your face in the portico hall.
A mist which sets
behind you at autumns fall.

A silhouette of your hair,
braided gold-brown and fair.
In your arms one of your kin,
a unicorn pure from sin.

Raphael painted you true,
has one picture room for two?

Poet on Ischia

All the songs that are yours
I hear as stars begin to shine.
Closing my eyes, opening doors,
they sound as if they were mine.

All the days which are ours
through the years and the times,
gives me joy as my knee cowers,
enhancing these difficult climbs.

All of life’s words and delights
shared with you as wine and bread,
has this small death we call night,
sing to my heart’s rhythmic thread.