Fedde Dijkstra was RIXT Poet of the Month September 2022. You can read his original Frisian poems from that month here. The translation of one of them – ‘CLOSE ENOUGH’ – is published here. Fedde Dijkstra is a guest poet of RIXT.

CLOSE ENOUGH in between the forest’s breaths cars rumble across the concrete a pigeon flaps out of a tree two clocks ticking at each other and through the French windows a cat traipses stealthily inside, nothing barring its way, through the corridor, up the stairs where it plays with a little ball which on its own accord ba donk a donk a donk bounces down the stairs a blackbird sounds the alarm the neighbour calls her kids inside and a siren comes in nothing is perfect but everything falls into place close enough for jazz © Fedde Dijkstra translation: Trevor Scarse