Peter Vermaat was the RIXT poet of the month September 2020. You can read his original Dutch poem of that month – ‘Ode to the storyteller’ – here. The translation is published below.
Ode to the storyteller for mindert wijnstra he makes fluid what had been discarded congealed in the bin of time for years he can resurrect the ladies of the sea knows where the devil dances in the dark put on top of a horse by an old pack rat he leads you into the forest of imagination where the white lady restyles herself light he sees, yet it chafes with the bodach born and raised in a village the heath caused an uproar with foresters aiming rifle that’s the birthplace of a great storyteller as a teacher he knew how to form everyone let the children dream beyond fish and cattle now the sky brings setbacks and sorrows © Peter Vermaat Translation: Trevor M. Scarse