On the platforms

on the platforms people hustle
towards the exits

clammy ears pressed to their
heads

no revellers
who let their last drinking song
loose in the wind

with ease the train transports
them
into the ethos
of the citizen’s duties

you’d almost
give them a piece of

the creases
out of their briefcases

in their briefcases
the average of
a challenge

or just afterwards
semur daging

Translation: Trevor Scarse

 

op de perrons hastige minsken
nei de útgongen

earen klam tsjin de holle
plakt

gjin feestgongers
dy’t har lêste drinkliet
ferwaaie litte

mei gemak tilt de trein
har
it etos yn
fan de boargerplicht

soest se
even de earen

de tearen
út de aktetaskes

yn de aktetaskes
it gemiddelde fan
in útdaging

of nei ôfrin even
daging smoor

© Tsjisse Hettema