Ina Schroders-Zeeders was the RIXT poet of the month August 2021. You can read her original Frisian poems of that month here. The translation of one of them – ‘Brass hats’ – is published here.

Autumn 2021 A rain falls, summer will soon end Whoever’s fearful can feel the darkness That will prevail in those months draw near. The clammy news which frames the time Spills from our screens into our lives. We go to bed with blinkers on. The compassion we’re so proud of during the day Is engulfed by a black dreamless sleep. Verbally exhausted, ignorant of the Taliban, Covid and climate, until the rain Betrays something of reality. Summer will soon end but it was all for nothing. © Ina Schroders-Zeeders Translation: Trevor Scarse