I saw him on the top floor of a white store
he stocked mourning and asked a high price for grief
I shadowed him in the late light
in a dim gleam I saw his ashen silhouette
he was licking the paws of an animal
gravely and determined he crept inside the night forest
the wailing tore through the old pines
my knees were trembling
I approached the sound
and opened my eyes wide
in front of me stood a humanwolf
he wanted to trade his gray fur for a red costume
pine needles stuck like thumbtacks
in the skin of the poor beast
I saw him on the bottom floor of a black store
he cried: help me dear sir!
I squeezed my eyes shut
and saw how Death
portrayed him
Translation: Sanne Greijdanus
minskewolf
ik ha him sjoen op de heechste etaazje fan in wite winkel
hy sloech routiid yn en rekkene fertriet djoer ôf
ik ha him skade yn it lette ljocht
yn in flau skynsel seach ik syn grauwe silhûet
hy beslikke de poaten fan in dier
yn ’e ploai en fêstberet slûpte hy de nachtbosk yn
it gûlen skuorde troch âlde dinnen
de knibbels knikten my
ik kaam op it lûd ôf
en sette grutte eagen op
foar my oer stie in minskewolf
hy woe syn grize pels ynruilje foar in read kostúm
dinnenullen stutsen as prikboerdpylken
yn ’e hûd fan it earme bist
ik ha him sjoen op ’e leechste etaazje fan in swarte winkel
hy gûlde: help my bêste man!
ik knypte de eagen ta
en seach hoe’t de dea
him útbylde
© Elmar Kuiper
Stienkeal (Bornmeer, 2018)