and the wind plays am ambiguous song
and the rain types a banned book on the rooftops
“God’s taking photos,” Mum said when lightning struck
I’m just a simple Frisian
not cut out for office work
no head for numbers
and two left hands
so I muddle along with poems
sometimes I stumble,
a dunderhead full of worries, no,
a thunderhead full of sparks!
to the window
almost tripping
over summer’s slimmest stripe
when, from the back of the room,
a voice I know so well: “Look at those
tumbling clouds, what a wonderful sky!”
Translation: David Colmer