Cozy Winter Ambience With A Crackling Fire
the 0 degree sleeping bag
and myself comprise a caterpillar
you’re between me and the dog
if Snowy and I
leave the tent
early
the Wise Women are still there on the frozen soil
the king is also awake
enormous orange oak leaves
have acquired a silver frame
you’ve made instant coffee
outside the tent
the smell of it
magical as a Youtube film
with an open fire in the background
Frisian poem and Dutch translation: Gabrielle Terpstra
Gabrielle Terpstra (1990) is a writer and performer with a passion for poetry and performances. Graduated from the Academy for Pop Culture in 2023. Founder of the collective “Pauper Poëzie”, where she releases unpolished works with a message of hope. Gabrielle is a journalist for goeie.frl and “De Moanne”, editor at literary magazine “Ensafh” and presenter and production manager of a podcast. Her debut collection was published in September ’24. Gabrielle has performed in Antwerp, at Ruigoord (Amsterdam), at the VPRO (Dutch broadcasting organization) and in various places in Friesland, where she also lives.
English translation: Donald Gardner
Donald Gardner (1938), born in Great Britain, has lived in the Netherlands since 1979 and earns his living as a translator. He made his debut in the 1960s as a performance poet in New York. Donald’s first poetry collections were published in London. In the Netherlands he published from his own publishing house, Forget-me-not Press. In 2015 he won the Vondel Translation Prize for the English edition of poems by Remco Campert. Donald also did the translations for the project “Sprekende Stenen” in Leeuwarden.
Illustrator: Michiel Kloppenburg
Michiel Kloppenburg (1984) is a freelance illustrator and animator living in Jelsum. His style can best be described as colourful, playful and minimalist, and he particularly likes working on projects that are linked to sustainability and nature. He is joint founder of Motionatales, an animation studio that makes complex information understandable through animation and motion design. He is also joint founder of Level Up Coworking, a co-working space in Leeuwarden for creative freelancers.