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.
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