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Accomplishing small things
like breathing in-and-out
standing up from the couch
taking a pencil and notebook
walking into the garden
seeing the sun through the tree
and making a quick sketch

means changing position
to see the whole picture at hand

so look at your life
straighten your back
feel wind on your face
hear the blackbird sing

and taste satisfaction
on the tip of your tongue

Eelco van der Waals
6 August 2025
Horizons shift slowly
where we are, here on deck
with open water all around

carrying our boat
to unknown land
with every wave and
wind that blows

This journey has no end
but ports in a row
bringing cargoes and fixes
after rough and calm seas

All questions posed
by currents and winds
you answer holding
your hand on the helm

steering the bow of the boat
with the flow and then higher
to stay on your course
with time on your side

Eelco van der Waals
4 August 2025
Two feet going forward
one foot at a time, giving
every step a new direction
on the tracks of change

Who's in charge here?
the eye sees the path to go
the ear hearing fresh winds blow
the mind seems the one to know

Yet two feet shape their way
going further step by step
to targets and to destiny
where things come round

All is choice and choice is all
links together build the chain
of small events in a stream
flowing to the great blue sea

Eelco van der Waals
1 August 2025
Family, the feeling
of a simple life,
interconnected,

a village in time
where things rhyme.

Childhood memories
mingled with the present
we live in,

pillow talk, fathers
and mothers gathered
and making their point

at the end of the day
before sleeping, together,
your hand on my chest

and mine on your thigh
till the end of Time.
Patterns woven day by day
in the workshop of your mind

all throughout childhood
getting tighter all the time
so that they at a certain spot
appear to be inchangeable.

Up till the turning point where
sudden signals shake you up
with threats ahead for life or death
and everythings stands still.

Away is all fixed certainty
from this new viewing point
where you take deeper breaths
and reset means a brandnew start.

Eelco van der Waals
2 August 2025
Home is a roof
like a hat under heaven
as a shelter for dreams
that drift in the night

Home is belonging,
tune in and becoming
is to land on your feet
and stand in the light

Home is the heartbeat
that echoes the silence
home is the soft wind
caressing your face

Home is the love that
you give one another
turning your shed into
the world’s dearest place
Poets taste letters
on the tip
of their tongue,

make lines out of
nothing before

sleep gets along.

They sit and they hum
and they write

in a streetcar at noon,
in the heart of the night.
Apples
in a bowl
on a wooden table
glowing
in a beam
of sunshine

A window
facing trees
gently moving
in the winds
of Summer

A hand
pooring coffee
for a friend
at the table

Senses intermingling:
apples, wood, summer wind
talk and friendship
in a timeless moment
of simplicity.
Learning by doing,
doing things slow,
slow meaning half of
the speed that you know

Slow down your breath
and the beat of your heart
making things better
make a new start

Slower is better and
good for your brains,
as it helps to avoid
any stress on your veins

Learn to enjoy this
look and see more
right where you are
as you open the door

Take a new step standing
firm on the ground
breathe and enjoy all
the things to be found

Eelco van der Waals
5 August 2025
Hospital bed
like a boat in the night
drifting on waves
of uncertainty

machinery blinking
on the pulse of your arm,
beeps on and off like
a lighthouse at sea -

your vessel reaches
the harbour of dawn
where white-coated sailors
enter the gangway

bringing news and measures
of a safe journey home after
a bumpy ride. You disembark
on shaky feet in gratitude.

Eelco van der Waals
29 July 2025
Let me tell you a secret
bout The Meaning of Success

1. Go away
2. Do other things
3. Come back
4. Find what has been there all the time.
Time

Time is a tube that
connects you to ever
the past at one end
and the future the other

Time is the moment
this photo was taken
your first year at school
with your class in the yard

The looks are still there
expectations forever
caught by the shutter
that day in the sun,

decades ago now, many
hopes later. Still learning
what life is connected
by time.

Eelco van der Waals
No more nonsense
no more excuse
no more things
you can't refuse

No more blabla
no more delay
no more things
you should today

All that matters
in this quest
is what's beating
in your chest

Do not care of
all the noise
listen to your
inner voice

Eelco van der Waals
6 August 2025
Really give in to your rest, because that's when your brain heals
Getting older is a daily thing
ice gets thinner underneath your weight
and vulnerability is growing
in the mirrors that you pass

A vein in your head says no
and oxygen is blocked to your lip
that goes hanging, making words
different with a mumbling sound

Docters are there, checking and
prescribing medicine to conquer
lasting effects after one night
in a hospital bed like a boat at sea

Every reason to be grateful and to
write poetry learning for now and
ever, expressing your gratitude,
celebrating vulnerability

Eelco van der Waals
3 August 2025

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