Birds
I had a dream of you last night
sleeping in your winter coat
I hear birds, they weep softly
and they know that I wait
for you
in our photograph time stands still forever
we squandered hours
I think of our song
I want to sing it to you
but the words are lost
they drift across the water
carried away by the spring wind
Frisian poem and Dutch translation: Mayte Veenstra
Mayte Veenstra (2006) has been acting in theatre productions and writing poems from an early age and gradually began arranging her own music. Mayte performs as the singer of a four-piece band and has been an active member of Meeuw Jonge Schrijvers since 2024. She composes her song lyrics and poems in Frisian, the language closest to her heart. Her recurring themes include longing, anxiety and dreams about the future. In a review of Explore the North ‘24, NRC Handelsblad wrote of her performance, “The audience is captivated. The tone of her voice is warm, probing, her words feel sincere”.
English translation: Vivien D. Glass
Vivien D. Glass (full name: Vivien Doornekamp-Glass) is a Dutch and English translator and a teacher in adult education. With a life-long fascination for language and literature, she has translated commercial and legal texts as well as book samples, short stories, novels, non-fiction, children’s literature and poetry.
Illustration: Julia van der Bos
Julia van der Bos is a freelance illustrator with experience in editorial, product, and marketing illustrations. Her work has a warm and friendly style that helps organisations convey their message. Originally from Russia, she has lived in Europe since 2017 and settled in Friesland in 2021. Julia also organises the Sunday Sketch Brunch and shares her work on Instagram with her active and growing community.