stop waiting for someone to hold your hand

A swan of golden feathers rose from a lake A silver-backed wigeon waded from the river Ate trees, ate stone, ate beasts of the woods Drank dry the wells and swamps, drank the sap from trees

It's not specifically about a swan or wigeon, nor one of each, and neither is the colour of the feathers specifically important. It doesn't matter whether it burst out of the water like a jumping fish, or waded out like a person - nor whether it was a lake or a river. And the list of things that it ate or would drink isn't specific or exclusive. All that this segment is saying is

Saarenpapan juhannusperinne:

Otetaan 1 kpl juhannusvierasta ja viedään se niemenkärjen huvimajaan. Valmistetaan 1-2 kpl 1 litran pulloon kossuvoittoista kaffeplöröä ja lisätään pullo(t) huvimajaan. Mennään itsekin huvimajaan. Istutaan juhannusvieraan kanssa huvimajassa plöröpullon kanssa kylmästä hytisten, kunnes varattu plörövaranto on ehtynyt. Siirretään itsemme tuvan pöydän ääreen, otetaan hyllystä pelikorit ja komerosta viinapullo. Otetaan komerosta toinen viinapullo. Otetaan komerosta kolman viinapullo. Jatketaan toimenpidettä tarvittavan kauan ja/tai kunnes juhannusvieraan marinointi on saavuttanut saturaatiopisteensä.

Tärkeä huomio: Juhannusvieraiden määrän ollessa enemmän kuin 1 kpl, valmista jokaista ylimenevää vierasta kohden 1 kpl lisäplöröpulloa.

1903 Aino Malmberg published the first known lesbian short story in Finland, named "ystävyyttä" ("friendship").

1963 Christer Kihlman publishes a break trough novel Den blå modern ("blue mother"). One of the book's themes is homosexuality, and the book ended up winning the national literary price.

1966 Ilkka Taipale publishes a book "Sukupuoleton Suomi" ("genderless Finland"). In it a lawyer Herbert Gumpler criticizes the law that criminalized gay acts, because it left gay people vulnerable to extortion and violence.

1968 Keskusteluseura Psyke becomes the first registered queer association. It later starts to publish a magazine "96" for queer people.

These literary works and formal associations might seem boring compared to the "first pride was a riot" we hear from America. But the truth is that these published materials slowly moved people's opinions, and in 1971 "gay acts" were no longer a crime.

Also reminder that our nowadays well known and beloved gay icon Touko Laaksonen, "Tom of Finland" started his career in 1956 by publishing his art with that pen name in a magazine based in USA, because that stuff was still illegal in Finland, and even publishing with his real name could have got him into trouble before the law changed. But damn it he found a way to get them published anyway.

1. borrowing misery from future

2. carrying grief of the past