January 2023

Ina Schroders-Zeeders was the RIXT poet of the month January 2023. You can read her original Frisian poems of that month here. The translation of one of them – ‘coat’ – is published here.

Photo: Edwin de Groot
coat

so many old things fall out of your coat pockets:
plasters, coins
pills for tranquillity

who put them there when you weren’t looking?
or was it you
but forgot

once sleepless nights because of money
no piece of clothing contains so many secrets
as an old coat with the pepper smell of sweat and rain

nothing falls better into place
than litter
on a worn-out tile floor


© Ina Schroders-Zeeders
translation: Trevor Scarse

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *