Tryntsje van der Veer was RIXT-poet of the month October 2019. You can read her original Frisian poems of that month here. One of them – ‘half moon’ – is published here in translation. The poem was written in response to the situation in Ruinerwold.
half moon
in daylight
dark blue
a shiver
half my heart
reeds from the brushwood
heaps of ooze
in a drone flight
the house the barn
the yard disclosed
my whole head
full of dramatic scenes
the curtain has fallen
in naked light
a tree the garden
ditches stink
trust in keys
loved ones and deserters
helpers dressed in black
in moonlight
doors hurl
don’t resist
in the basements
the water rises
sewers never lie
until full moon
beards and old clothes
times never lie
in daylight
dark blue
a shiver
© Tryntsje van der Veer Translation: Trevor M. Scarse