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Sep 2023 · 248
[ Loving each other ]
Zywa Sep 2023
Loving each other:

not too close and not too far --


The correct distance.
The golden mean

"De dokter en het lichte meisje" ("The GP and the light girl", 1952, Simon Vestdijk), chapter "**** in moderation"

Collection "Inmost [2]"
Sep 2023 · 389
[ I like to run with ]
Zywa Sep 2023
I like to run with

the hare and hunt with the hounds --


Is that my freedom?
"De dokter en het lichte meisje" ("The GP and the light girl", 1952, Simon Vestdijk), chapter "Hercules"

Collection "Inmost [2]"
Sep 2023 · 418
[ Toilets overflow ]
Zywa Sep 2023
Toilets overflow,

trains cannot run on the tracks:


copper is golden.
Copper theft from the railways in the Netherlands, in 2023

Tour of the guest house of the King Sabata Dalindyebo Technikon in Mthatha (Eastern Cape, RSA) and of the old sewage treatment plant in Kroonstad (Free State) --- Tale "A Change of tongue" (2003, Antjie Krog)

Collection "After the festivities"
Zywa Sep 2023
Countless frogs climb up

over each other's backs and --


fall back down again.
"La Caravane de la Poésie" in 1999 - Swimming pool in a hotel in Bamako (Mali)

Tale "A Change of tongue" (2003, Antjie Krog)

Collection "Em Brace"
Sep 2023 · 161
[ The goats bleat among ]
Zywa Sep 2023
The goats bleat among

the audience, bleat among --


lines of poetry.
"La Caravane de la Poésie" in 1999 - The Egyptian poet Zein reads on the village square of Ségou (Mali)

Tale "A Change of tongue" (2003, Antjie Krog)

Collection "SoulSenseSun"
Sep 2023 · 163
[ Ceiling with a hole ]
Zywa Sep 2023
Ceiling with a hole:

the airco lies on the floor --


It is still buzzing.
"La Caravane de la Poésie" in 1999 - Hotel in Ségou (Mali)

Tale "A Change of tongue" (2003, Antjie Krog)

Collection "After the festivities"
Sep 2023 · 139
[ A poem opens ]
Zywa Sep 2023
A poem opens

you to the light, it drapes light --


into sounds of words.
"La Caravane de la Poésie" in 1999 - In a dune near Timbuktu

Tale "A Change of tongue" (2003, Antjie Krog)

Collection "A profession"
Sep 2023 · 512
[ The poets return ]
Zywa Sep 2023
The poets return

through the former slave gate, with --


liberated words.
"La Caravane de la Poésie" in 1999 - Poet Thierno Seydou Sall speaks in Kaolack about the slave gate of Gorëe (island off Dakar, Sénégal), the "door of no return" ("porte sans retour")

Tale "A Change of tongue" (2003, Antjie Krog)

Collection "Over"
Sep 2023 · 207
[ Participating ]
Zywa Sep 2023
Participating,

counter voices and dancing:


a language tumult.
"La Caravane de la Poésie" in 1999 - With Chenjerai Hove (Zimbabwe 1956-2015), Werewere Liking (Cameroon 1950), Amina Saïd (Tunis 1953), and Thierno Seydou Sall (Sénégal) among others, Antjie Krog (South Africa 1952) recites poems in Kayes (Mali), where the audience communicates with her with "a change of tongue"

Tale "A Change of tongue" (2003, Antjie Krog)

Collection "SoulSenseSun"
Sep 2023 · 345
[ Get to know yourself ]
Zywa Sep 2023
Get to know yourself:

listen to what's being said --


listen and translate.
Tale "A Change of tongue" (2003, Antjie Krog)

Collection "Home sea"
Sep 2023 · 166
[ I'm one with the earth ]
Zywa Sep 2023
I'm one with the earth,

termites mate and start digging --


their cities in me.
(1970)
Tale "A Change of tongue" (2003, Antjie Krog)

Collection "Skin-contact"
Sep 2023 · 241
[ The torch shining in ]
Zywa Sep 2023
The torch shining in

the cesspit, on the masses --


of rising maggots.
Tale "A Change of tongue" (2003, Antjie Krog)

Collection "Stream"
Zywa Sep 2023
Child's play can smell of

tobacco smoke, camphor, cat --


and burnt porridge.
"Klein seuntjies wat gespeel het die heeldag aanmekaar, dié ruik so teen die middag na twak en kiesieblaar, na wilde-als en padda en aangebrande pap, harmansdrup en paregorie, katjiepoetjie en janlap." (Alba Brouwer)

- "Little boys who played together all day, smell like tobacco and malva at noon, like wormwood and frog and burnt porridge, Haarlem oil and paregoric, cat's paw and jalap."

Tale "A Change of tongue" (2003, Antjie Krog)

Collection "SoulSenseSun"
Zywa Sep 2023
Days of street protests

stay with me, the repugnance --


the anger, the wound.
Poem "#FeesMustFall - Oktober 2015" ("#FeesMustFall - October 2015", 2022, Antjie Krog)

Collection "May the Might"
Zywa Sep 2023
They have braced themselves,

their heels in the solid earth --


their boots full of fear.
Poem "die sigbaarmaking van allerlei strooptogte" ("the making visible of all kinds of raids", 2022, Antjie Krog)

Collection "May the Might"
Sep 2023 · 112
[ The white prison guards ]
Zywa Sep 2023
The white prison guards

lock up the black souls in white --


imaginations.
Book "Black Bodies, White Gazes: the Continuing Significance of Race" (2008, George Yancy)

"The white gaze discursively snatches the body, distorts it into an immobile, non-human version of itself. It traps black people in white imaginations."

Collection "May the Might"
Sep 2023 · 119
[ My children meeting ]
Zywa Sep 2023
My children meeting

about me, apparently --


I am that old now.
Poem "gedagtes" ("thoughts", 2022, Antjie Krog)

Collection "Over"
Sep 2023 · 217
[ It is just cardboard ]
Zywa Sep 2023
It is just cardboard,

not a human, yet I can't --


take shooting lessons.
Poem "jou eerste nag in die tronk" ("your first night in jail", 2022, Antjie Krog)

Collection "Truder"
Sep 2023 · 482
[ She wants to die, locks ]
Zywa Sep 2023
She wants to die, locks

herself in, her mother calls --


and then grabs the axe.
Poem "suicide watch" (2022, Antjie Krog)

Collection "Truder"
Sep 2023 · 114
[ A landscape like this ]
Zywa Sep 2023
A landscape like this

in winter, on unique days --


seen for centuries.
Poem "treinrit van Groningen na Amsterdam" ("train journey from Groningen to Amsterdam", 2022, Antjie Krog)

Collection "Stream"
Sep 2023 · 700
[ They steal her beauty ]
Zywa Sep 2023
They steal her beauty

with compliments, and laugh at --


the mutilation.
Poem "dit spuls die aarde vol" ("the earth is full of it", 2022, Antjie Krog)

Collection "Truder"
Sep 2023 · 288
[ Coming off the tram ]
Zywa Sep 2023
Coming off the tram,

we stand still to watch, the wind --


blows flyers to us.
"Ivoren wachters" ("Ivory guardians", 1951, Simon Vestdijk), chapter XXI

Collection "Inmost [2]"
Sep 2023 · 779
[ Textbooks in a heap ]
Zywa Sep 2023
Textbooks in a heap,

the pages held together --


by dog-ears only.
"Ivoren wachters" ("Ivory guardians", 1951, Simon Vestdijk), chapter V

Collection "Inmost [2]"
Sep 2023 · 414
[ Flat pillar of salt ]
Zywa Sep 2023
Flat pillar of salt,

my fixed image of mama --


Beloved photo.
A photo is an image fixed in salt compounds
"Ivoren wachters" ("Ivory guardians", 1951, Simon Vestdijk), chapter II and V

Collection "Inmost [2]"
Sep 2023 · 236
[ I reach for the glass ]
Zywa Sep 2023
I reach for the glass

but I stop, seeing, watching --


my quivering hand.
"Ivoren wachters" ("Ivory guardians", 1951, Simon Vestdijk), chapter IV

Collection "Inmost [2]"
Sep 2023 · 479
[ Sex since the helminths ]
Zywa Sep 2023
*** since the helminths,

derailed into a big deal --


for human beings.
****** reproduction started in prokayotes. Helminths are the oldest ****** animals. Helminths is a name for all (macro)parasitic worms: ringed worms, flatworms, roundworms and thorny-headed worms. Most are hermaphroditic, roundworms have their sexes differentiated.

Novel "De rimpels van Esther Ornstein - De geschiedenis van een verzuim" ("The wrinkles of Esther Ornstein - The history of a neglect", 1959, Simon Vestdijk), chapter 3-1

Collection "Inmost [2]"
Sep 2023 · 324
[ Old love: smouldering ]
Zywa Sep 2023
Old love: smouldering

fire, or a layer of ice --


quickly freezing on?
Novel "De rimpels van Esther Ornstein - De geschiedenis van een verzuim" ("The wrinkles of Esther Ornstein - The history of a neglect", 1959, Simon Vestdijk), chapter 3-1

Collection "Inmost [2]"
Sep 2023 · 171
[ We are home, we will ]
Zywa Sep 2023
We are home, we will

wait for you, yes, they once have --


said that to me too.
"Het tankstation op de route" - 2 ("The filling station on the route" - 2, 2013, Jan Baeke)

Collection "Stall"
Sep 2023 · 169
[ Never a meeting ]
Zywa Sep 2023
Never a meeting,

we just discuss everything --


while we are at it.
"Het tankstation op de route" - 2 ("The filling station on the route" - 2, 2013, Jan Baeke)

Collection "Stall"
Aug 2023 · 183
[ Life used to revolve ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Life used to revolve

around us when we were young --


Today it still does.
"Het tankstation op de route" - 2 ("The filling station on the route" - 2, 2013, Jan Baeke)

Collection "Stall"
Aug 2023 · 597
[ I remember one ]
Zywa Aug 2023
I remember one

evening, and so many more --


of those there have been...
"Het tankstation op de route" - 1 ("The filling station on the route" - 1, 2013, Jan Baeke)

Collection "Stall"
Aug 2023 · 512
[ None of those present ]
Zywa Aug 2023
None of those present

gets ever interrupted --


when they're all talking.
"Het tankstation op de route" - 1 ("The filling station on the route" - 1, 2013, Jan Baeke)

Collection "Stall"
Aug 2023 · 233
[ The war in those days ]
Zywa Aug 2023
The war in those days

was manageable with us --


We were still young then.
"Het tankstation op de route" - 1 ("The filling station on the route" - 1, 2013, Jan Baeke)

Collection "Stall"
Zywa Aug 2023
Please come with your Skin

to my Body, the Temple --


of the Sacred Touch.
Poem "Huid" ("Skin", 2023, Johanna Pas)

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 20s and 30s"
Aug 2023 · 429
[ I get up and feel ]
Zywa Aug 2023
I get up and feel

that weather again, the sun --


on those Saturdays!
Poem "Morning Roundup" (1971, Gilbert Sorrentino)

Collection "Inwardings"
Aug 2023 · 429
[ The underworld is ]
Zywa Aug 2023
The underworld is

close at hand: ****, poo and junk --


slimy and rotting.
Poem "Besök i närmaste undre värld" ("Visit to the nearest underworld", 1982, Lars Gustafsson)

Collection "Specialities"
Aug 2023 · 263
[ Enthralling people ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Enthralling people

are misunderstood, they are --


too enigmatic.
Poem "Flickan i snabbköpet" ("The girl in the supermarket", 2002, Lars Gustafsson)

Collection "Specialities"
Aug 2023 · 414
[ Not our statements are ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Not our statements are

personal, but everything --


that happens to us.
Poem "Det vi kallar 'jag' " ("What we call 'I' ", 1982, Lars Gustafsson)

Collection "Specialities"
Aug 2023 · 402
[ From the beginning ]
Zywa Aug 2023
From the beginning

they seek us, running, sniffing:


the poor human souls.
Poem "Hundarna" ("The dogs", 1980, Lars Gustafsson)

Collection "Specialities"
Aug 2023 · 568
[ The actor knows what ]
Zywa Aug 2023
The actor knows what

it's all about: pretending --


you're really human.
Alan Arkin (New York City 1934-2023) wrote in his memoir "Out of my mind" (2018): "When things get tense, when I start taking my work a bit too seriously, I remind myself that I'm only pretending to be a human being."

Collection: "Wean Di"
Aug 2023 · 307
[ A living statue ]
Zywa Aug 2023
A living statue

bends over, taps my shoulder:


it wants a picture.
Colum "Bewegende standbeelden" ("Moving statues", 2023, Marcel van Roosmalen), in NRC, July 3rd, 2023

Collection "Specialities"
Aug 2023 · 544
[ On expectations ]
Zywa Aug 2023
On expectations,

the bar is set so high that --


I pass under it.
Column "Gewoon uitzitten" ("Just sit it out", 2023, Ellen Deckwitz)

Collection "Death on Cast"
Aug 2023 · 531
[ One day you will learn ]
Zywa Aug 2023
One day you will learn

everything you pursued was --


never possible.
Poem "For Sheridan" (1977, Robert Lowell)

Collection "Thinkles Lusionless"
Aug 2023 · 769
[ We're barbarians ]
Zywa Aug 2023
We're barbarians:

people who destroy what they --


do not understand.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "OPEN HARD DRIVE"

Collection "May the Might"
Aug 2023 · 265
[ Sometimes civilised ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Sometimes civilised,

refined and choosy, sometimes --


a barbarian.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "OPEN HARD DRIVE"

Collection "May the Might"
Aug 2023 · 540
[ The magic sword can't ]
Zywa Aug 2023
The magic sword can't

be pulled free by focusing --


on the mossy stone.
Excalibur

Novel "Oranges are not the only fruit" (1985, Jeanette Winterson)

Collection
Aug 2023 · 202
[ I keep staring at ]
Zywa Aug 2023
I keep staring at

the many Maybe Islands --


Will I live somewhere?
Novel "The Stone Gods" (2007, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "PLANET BLUE"

Collection "Actively Passive"
Aug 2023 · 301
[ You must come with me ]
Zywa Aug 2023
You must come with me,

I don't want to beat my way --


through the rain alone.
Novel "Oranges are not the only fruit" (1985, Jeanette Winterson)

Collection "No wonder"
Aug 2023 · 634
[ The minister has ]
Zywa Aug 2023
The minister has

a large first-aid kit with him --


He knows the devil.
Novel "Oranges are not the only fruit" (1985, Jeanette Winterson)

Collection "No wonder"
Aug 2023 · 396
[ The past is a rope ]
Zywa Aug 2023
The past is a rope,

a tangled ball of knots, play --


with it, like a cat.
Novel "Oranges are not the only fruit" (1985, Jeanette Winterson)

Collection "No wonder"
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