In Scandinavian folklore the Hulder are the hidden people. The descendants of the children Eve hid from God because she was ashamed of them being dirty.
(Happy Pride month, by the way!)
It’s possible you haven’t heard about me
My mum was a god-fearing woman, you see
And I’m talking hardcore: like, biblical guilt
Apparently, every last thing was her fault.
Including us: some of my siblings and I:
We never could please her. We really did try.
But she said we were dirty; not all of us though
What the difference she saw was, I really don’t know
But some of us were just… disgusting to her.
When God came to visit, the ones she preferred
They were proudly presented, all shining and clean
While the rest of us quietly waited unseen
We tried not to hate her, at least not at first
She wanted the best for us. She had been cursed
And we were corrupt and unworthy of love
But she tried to protect us from wrath from above.
I don’t think that mum ever quite understood
That respectable isn’t the same thing as good.
But God saw us anyway, cowering,
forbidden
And said to our mother that we must stay hidden
From her. Nevermore must we come in her sight
I think, in her mind, this just proved she was right:
And we were unclean in the eyes of the Lord
And although we existed, were better ignored.
Oh but mother, you’re wrong. If you’d look, we’re still there.
Not hidden and dirty, but shining, elsewhere.
Tom Juniper Poetry 