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April 2020

Tsjisse Hettema was the RIXT poet of the  month April 2020. You can read his original Frisian poems of that month here. The translation of one of them – ‘Spring Poem’ – is published below.

Photo: Geart Tigchelaar

Spring poem

today a butterfly
touched down
on my mood
he sprung open the locks
of my wintry repose

and when the first daylight
snuck inside
and I walked
outside amazed

my pounding heart
thumbed its nose
at my paper
scribblings
as light as a butterfly

that put me off
roundly
my misshapen belly
and my mop of hair so grey
so grey

© Tsjisse Hettema
Translation: Trevor M. Scarse
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The Oardelskonkje: a new poetry form in times of crisis.

As travelling is ruled out for the coming time, we’ve all become travellers who have to find their feet in the new situation. Syds Wiersma thought that we do not stand on two feet on the ground anymore, but rather one and a half, and so the new poetry form devell ped: the one and a half leg, or in Frisian, the Oardelskonkje.

If it not were for the corona crisis, Wiersma would be in Ireland to finish writing his poetry volume now. “We’ve all become travellers on one and a half leg” he says. Today, on April 30th, RIXT has published the explanation and first Oardelskonkjes by Syds Wiersma. You can find it here (in Frisian).

The Oardelskonkje is a crisis variant on the haiku. It has fifteen words, divided in two stanzas. The first stanza has ten words, the second five. Numerically and visually, it is oardel (one and a half) skonk (leg). The form is free for the poet, allthough a chute in between the stanzas works best according to Wiersma. Several Oardelskonkjes can form a thread, just like haikus.

We invite everyone to explore this new form and send in Oardelskonkjes. The editorial board will select Oardelskonkjes for publication on May 15th, which has been proclaimed Day of the Oardelskonkje.

picture: Geart Tigchelaar
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Poetry for residents of care homes

More than 5000 residents of 88 small and large scale care homes in Fryslân have received poetry cards today.

It is an act of Leeuwarden/Ljouwert UNESCO City of Literature in collaboration with Poetry Pack RIXT, and was set up in light of the difficult situation which affects residents of care homes considerably. Ernst Bruinsma, corporate leader of Ljouwert/Leeuwarden City of Literature:

“With this action we want to provide  comfort and hope in these – especially for the elderly – difficult times.”

RIXT poets Jan Kleefstra, Syds Wiersma, Gerrit de Vries, Froukje Reitsema, Kate Schlingemann, Marije Roorda, Tsjisse Hettema, Martsje de Jong, and poet Baukje Wytsma have written six poems in Frisian, two in Dutch and one poem in Stellingwarfs.

Mrs. Veninga receives a poetry card from care taker Saakje Westerhof at the care home Sint Jozef (Kwadrantgroep) in Ljouwert/Leeuwarden.

In the framework of the project Frisian in Health Care (Afûk), Douwkje Douma has inventarised the interest of elderly homes in Fryslân. Every organisation showed interest: Kwadrantgroep, Hof en Hiem, Meriant, Patyna, Mienskipssintrum Leppehiem en Noorderbreedte.

The poetry cards are designed by BWH Ontwerpers from Ljouwert/Leeuwarden and are printed by Van der Eems in Easterein. The poems will be published on leeuwardencityofliterature.nl as well as on RIXT.

On the website friesindezorg.frl you can find information (in Dutch) on the importance of language in the well-being of people requiring care.

The nine poetry cards