To Stay Lying down in the Gunfire; Kun ovi sulkeutuu

 

Kun ovi sulkeutuu
on avattava uusi ovi
ettei unohdu tuleen
makaamaan.
© Yelling Rosa
2026-07-25

When the door finally closes,
a new one must be opened
or stay lying down
in the gunfire.
© Yelling Rosa
2026-07-25

 

The Finnish saying

The Finnish saying jäädä tuleen makaamaan literally translates to "to stay lying down in the gunfire". Idiomatically, it means to give up, freeze up, or stay passively paralyzed after running into a setback or crisis instead of keeping moving forward and taking action. [1, 2, 3]

Origin and Context

• Military roots: The phrase comes from military vocabulary and was famously popularized by Väinö Linna in his classic 1954 war novel Tuntematon sotilas (The Unknown Soldier), where an officer orders troops not to freeze or lie down under fire. [1]

• Modern usage: Today, it is used broadly in everyday life—often in the negative (ei saa jäädä tuleen makaamaan / "you mustn't stay lying in the fire")—to encourage someone to get back up, face adversity, and fix a difficult situation rather than surrender to despair. [1, 2, 3]

 

 

No Such Thing as Death

There is no such thing as death. There is only life, passing from one person to another. What we call death is the end of a person’s life, not the beginning of death. For death to exist, it must contain something. But it is nothing, not even emptiness.
© Yelling Rosa
2026-04-19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Universes Go on Infinitely

Take me to the moon.
I'll fly with you.
From the moon
I want to go
to another galaxy.
To the red one
they're talking about.
We can also go
to the other
side
of
galaxies.
That's
what
They're talking about it too.
I don't believe them.
Universes
never end.
They go on
infinitely.
© Yelling Rosa
2025-11-10

 

The Rotten Apples

 The Rotten Apple

 

The Rotten Apples

I am tired of humans.
They are monsters,
Or let’s say,
There are too many
monsters among decent
people, and they,
like a rotten apple,
spoils the whole
fruit basket.
The gas of evil
Toxicities me.
© Yelling Rosa
2025-09-12

1894 Esperanto Reform Project

 

In 1894, L. L. Zamenhof, who was the original creator of the constructed language Esperanto, proposed a complete series of reforms to Esperanto (in other words, an Esperantido). It is notable as the only complete Esperantido to be authored by Zamenhof himself, and it was presented in response to various reforms that had been proposed by others since the language's publication in 1887. The project was eventually rejected by the language's speakers, and subsequently even by Zamenhof himself. Some of the proposed reforms were used in another constructed language, Ido, beginning in 1907.

Read the rest of this article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1894_Esperanto_reform_project

Felica Kristnasko

I've created a free Christmas postcard in the Ido language for you.

 

 

Note

Later, I'll upload Christmas cards in English and Finnish to this blog.

Viikon seitsemän päivää; The Days of the Week

 Here are the days of the week in the Ingrian language.

Ingrian	English	Finnish
mantaki, sb.	Monday	maanantai
tistaki, sb	Tuesday	tiistai
sereta, sb.	Wednesday	keskiviikko
torstaki	Thursday	torstai
päätetsä, sb.	Friday	perjantai
soovotta, sb.	Saturday	lauantai
suntaki, sb.	Sunday	sunnuntai

Wiktionary does not recognize the words mantaki (Nirvi 303), tistaki (Nirvi 588), and suntaki (Nirvi 550).

Nirvi plus a number refers to the dictionary of Ingrian dialects edited by R. E. Nirvi in ​​1971. Alla kuva kirjan nimilehdestä, missä on

Below is a picture of Nirvi’s dedication inscription to academician Kustaa Vilkuna.

You can enlarge the picture by opening it in a new tab.

PS If you wonder why I am using the English language here, it’s because only some people interested in Ingrian understand Finnish. On the other hand, my Russian knowledge is almost at the zero level.

My Poem in Ingrian and in English

 I have written this poem using the Ingrian language that my grandmother spoke. I checked the conjugations with Wiktionary. I also looked up words from the dictionary of Ingrian dialects that I received a week ago, edited by R. E. Nirvi in 1971.

Miä oon väsynt 

Miä oon väsynt.
Uni ono karttant minnua.
Oon nukkunt vähä,
ku kokkoi taivaal lentää.
Oon nukkunt vähä
ku pölhö pydä hirilöijä.
Miä vaa sallin,
sto koolo tulloo
ennen ko musto
jättää.
© Yelling Rosa
2024-05-03

 

 

In English

I’m tired.
Sleep eludes me.
I have slept badly
When the eagle in the sky flies.
I have slept badly
When an eagle owl hunts mice.
I hope
that death will come
before I lose
my memory.
© Yelling Rosa
2024-05-03

 

 

The Key to the Door of Solutions

 

The Key to the Door of Solutions

People,
those geniuses,
solve the problem by creating a new,
more significant problem.
In that way, the primary concern
seems insignificant.
The man is clever.
We always have a key
for the door of solutions.
© Yelling Rosa
2024-01-20

I Will Stand for a Child

 

I have written the words to the tune of the Finnish folk song "Niin minä neitonen sinulle laulan kuin omalle kullalleni." The song's name is impossible to translate literally, but it means, "I am singing to you, my young one (maiden), like you were my darling."

Verse 01

I'm singing from the bottom of my heart to make the world a peaceful heaven. Please, Mother Earth, release your angels from the woods we've fully disregarded.

Verse 02

Let your supernatural creatures tell us there is one unbiased God. He gives every living being a spirit and redeems it when the time's up.

Verse 03

Please give me a sign that it is the worst of sins to steal the life of a child so that I have the strength to defend God's gift whatever books are telling. 

 

                                                 Please enlarge the music sheet by clicking.

 

Tapio Rautavaara sings the folk song “Niin minä neitonen sinulle laulan”

 

 

 

 

Demand Ceasefire in the Middle East Now

Please forward this postcard to support a ceasefire in the Middle East

 

I'm Sad

I'm sad,
because people near me
don't care about
what is happening
in Palestine.
© Yelling Rosa
2023-11-15

We Are Alone Together in This Loneliness; Me olemme yksin yhdessä tässä yksinäisyydessä

We Are Alone Together in This Loneliness

Recently, I have encountered other people besides myself who ask themselves if the lack of commonality is my fault. I and others have wondered if I would be less alone elsewhere. In this turmoil, my friend's words have come to mind that when a person is at peace with himself, he is at home, even in a rat hole. According to him, the change for the better starts with rewarding yourself. I am a traveler on this road until the end, like each of us. Blaming ourselves or others does not help us. Rolling my thoughts led me to write the following poem.

 

The World Diverges

We are born alone
And we will die
Alone.
It's nobody's fault,
It is the world
Diverges from
Itself.
© Yelling Rosa
2023-10-23

 

Me olemme yksin yhdessä tässä yksinäisyydessä

Viime aikoina olen kohdannut itseni lisäksi muita ihmisiä, jotka kysyvät itseltään, onko yhteisyyden puute minun vikani. Niin minä kuin muutkin ovat miettineet sitä, olisinko jossain muualla vähemmän yksin. Tässä myllerryksessä mieleeni on tullut ystäväni sanat, että kun ihminen on sinut itsensä kanssa, hän on kotonaan, vaikka rotankolossa. Hänen mukaansa muutos parempaan alkaa itsensä palkitsemisesta. Olen tämän tien kulkija loppuun asti niin kuin jokainen meistä. Syyllisen hakeminen meistä itsestämme tai muista ei meitä auta. Ajatuksien pyöritteleminen sai minut kirjoittamaan seuraavan runon.

 

Maailma erkanee itsestään

Me synnymme yksin
ja me kuolemme yksin.
Se ei ole kenenkään vika.
Se on maailma,
joka erkanee
itsestään.
© Yelling Rosa
2023-10-23