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Dec 2023 · 195
[ The ecstatic heart- ]
Zywa Dec 2023
The ecstatic heart-

brake in that opera song --


while we're having ***.
Poem "The Balcony" (2000, Louise Glück)

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 0s"
Dec 2023 · 475
[ When we say goodbye ]
Zywa Dec 2023
When we say goodbye,

my waving hand trembles, but --


father doesn't notice.
Poem "Terminal Resemblance" (1990, Louise Glück)

Collection "Em Brace"
Dec 2023 · 489
[ They can be loving ]
Zywa Dec 2023
They can be loving:

father talks to the dog and --


my son lures the cat.
Poem "Children Coming Home From School" - 2 (1990, Louise Glück)

Collection "Em Brace"
Zywa Dec 2023
Upon your death, friends

unanimously agree --


on your character.
Poem "Lament" (1990, Louise Glück)

Collection "Over"
Dec 2023 · 214
[ Love me, so leave me ]
Zywa Dec 2023
Love me, so leave me

alone, there is no place here --


but for me, you see.
Puberty
Poem "Animals" (1990, Louise Glück)

Collection "Wean Di"
Dec 2023 · 276
[ I wasn't there, but my ]
Zywa Dec 2023
I wasn't there, but my

imagination sees it --


happening again.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 1-1 "The perforated sheet"

Collection "Low gear [2]"
Dec 2023 · 410
[ If I ever find ]
Zywa Dec 2023
If I ever find

you here whatsitcalled, you will --


whatsitcalled feel it!
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 1-3 "Hit-the-spittoon"

Collection "Low gear [2]"
Dec 2023 · 297
[ I just see fragments ]
Zywa Dec 2023
I just see fragments

of my life, only too late --


I understand them.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 1-8 "Tick, tock"

Collection "Low gear [2]"
Dec 2023 · 249
[ Teaching religion ]
Zywa Dec 2023
Teaching religion.

First lesson: unbelievers --


do not belong here.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 1-3 "Hit-the-spittoon"

Collection "Low gear [2]"
Dec 2023 · 615
[ He eats well, just look ]
Zywa Dec 2023
He eats well, just look,

my phalanx fits easily --


in his navel hole.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 1-6 "Many-headed monsters"

Collection "Low gear [2]"
Dec 2023 · 238
[ The eerie room is ]
Zywa Dec 2023
The eerie room is

frightening me with shadows  --


of scary monsters.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 1-6 "Many-headed monsters"

Collection "Low gear [2]"
Zywa Dec 2023
The questions, the doubts,

the suspicion, that monster --


with too many heads.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 1-6 "Many-headed monsters"

Collection "Low gear [2]"
Dec 2023 · 308
[ Look at the people ]
Zywa Dec 2023
Look at the people

around me to understand --


the course of my life.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 1-8 "Tick, tock"

Collection "Low gear [2]"
Dec 2023 · 851
[ The moon shines sorrow ]
Zywa Dec 2023
The moon shines sorrow

into me, yet I'm looking --


through a haze of tears.
Poem by the monk ("Hoshi") Saigyo (1118-1190):
Nageke tote / Tsuki ya wa mono o / Omowasuru / Kakochi gao naru / Waga namida kana

Collection "Moist glow"
Dec 2023 · 494
[ My work is simple ]
Zywa Dec 2023
My work is simple,

I too am averagely --


uninteresting.
Poem "Arm" ("Poor", 2022, Koenraad Goudeseune), written on his deathbed

Collection "Over"
Dec 2023 · 433
[ Dying means little ]
Zywa Dec 2023
Dying means little

without fantasy, else it's --


about everything.
Novel "Voyage au bout de la nuit" ("Journey to the End of the Night", 1932, Louis-Ferdinand Céline) - "Quand on a pas d'imagination, mourir c'est peu de choses, quand on en a, mourir c'est trop."

Collection "Over"
Dec 2023 · 463
[ My light will go out ]
Zywa Dec 2023
My light will go out,

it couldn't get any darker --


Here I am. Take me.
Isaac calls his father and Abraham answers: "Hineni" ("Here am I", Genesis 22:6), a quotation from Isaiah 6:8 (the calling of the prophet Isaiah): "And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then I said, 'Here am I! Send me.' " On New Year's Day (Rosh Hashanah), believers repeat this answer.

Song "You want it darker" (2016, Leonard Cohen)

Collection "Over"
Dec 2023 · 253
[ You eat of the past ]
Zywa Dec 2023
You eat of the past

only the halal portion:


the bloodless stories.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 1-4 "Under the carpet"

Collection "Low gear [2]"
Zywa Dec 2023
Bits and bytes, shooting

through the circuits, are playing --


twister super fast.
"Komboï" ("Knots", 1981, Iannis Xenakis) for harpsichord and percussion, performed by Goska Isphording and Tatiana Koleva in the Organpark on November 29th, 2023

Collection "org anp ark" #333
Nov 2023 · 803
[ She submerges us ]
Zywa Nov 2023
She submerges us

in a great deluge of words --


We're completely soaked.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 1-4 "Under the carpet"

Collection "Low gear [2]"
Nov 2023 · 308
[ God must be sky blue ]
Zywa Nov 2023
God must be sky blue,

then there will be no problems --


will be white nor black.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 1-7 "Methwold"

Collection "Low gear [2]"
Nov 2023 · 717
The sacrifice
Zywa Nov 2023
The ritual after work
in the dark at the end
of the evening twilight

The dim light of the low clouds
in 1883, when the nights in the country
were still black

The farmer stoops
poking a dry smell
from the weeds of the day

It lingers
in a plume of smoke
above the sparks
Painting "Onkruid verbrandende boer" ("Peasant burning weeds"), 1883, Vincent van Gogh

Collection "Greeting from before"
Nov 2023 · 733
[ Chapel in the woods ]
Zywa Nov 2023
Chapel in the woods:

inside, the flames are flaring --


autumnal silence.
Chapel 'the Sacred Oak' (on the Beerze, near Oirschot, since the 15th century)

Collection "Greeting from before"
Nov 2023 · 486
[ No one is themselves ]
Zywa Nov 2023
No one is themselves,

people are always leaking --


in each other's lives.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 1-3 "Hit-the-spittoon"

Collection "Low gear [2]"
Nov 2023 · 332
[ The words keep whining ]
Zywa Nov 2023
The words keep whining

in my head, they're complaining --


their imposed silence.
Composition #108 "Walls have ears" for voice, string quartet and video (2013, Yannis Kyriakides, to the poem "Savas Zamani" ["Wartime", 2011] by Mehmet Yashin), performed by Quatuor Bozzini in the Organpark on November 26th, 2023

Collection "org anp ark" #326
Nov 2023 · 313
God's Will
Zywa Nov 2023
Quiet! Stop shouting!
There's nothing to worry about
because God gets what He wants
That is... winning, say the books
the dogmas and the prophets
God is God, He gets what He wants

He wants war and peace, famine
and full shops, freedom and revolution
He wants Semtex and He wants ***
lots of virgins and gigolos and
He gets what He wants
or is that a joke?

God wants borders, drugs and flood
God wants laws, gangs and crime
God wants prayers and big money
pounds and dollars, rupees and rials
renminbi, euros and pesos
The liras He rejects

God wants subservience
He loves secrets
solutions and the internet
God wants to laugh
so He helps us all
and He gets what He wants

God wants friendship and fame
with drinks and dinners, He wants registers
and banks, He wants credit with or without
interest, He wants debt and poverty
and insurances for everything
He gets what He wants
Song "What God wants" (1992, Roger Waters, album "Amused to Death")

Collection "Reaching out"
Nov 2023 · 656
[ The squatting men place ]
Zywa Nov 2023
The squatting men place

the spittoon further away --


and aim into it.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 1-3 "Hit-the-spittoon"

Collection "Low gear [2]"
Nov 2023 · 388
[ The Queen of Nothing ]
Zywa Nov 2023
The Queen of Nothing

gave hope to the poor people --


She was dangerous.
The Rani [Queen] of 'Cooch Naheen' (in Agra)

Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 1-4 "Under the carpet"

Collection "Low gear [2]"
Nov 2023 · 306
[ You hear the echoes ]
Zywa Nov 2023
You hear the echoes

of guides everywhere, despite --


the signs 'Silence Please'.
Mausoleum Taj Mahal

Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 1-4 "Under the carpet"

Collection "Low gear [2]"
Nov 2023 · 383
Just so you know
Zywa Nov 2023
I'm falling apart, believe me
it's real, and not a request
for pity, just
falling apart, cracking
like an old jar

I've been through too much
suffered too much, for now
it is going slowly
but still faster

I can't keep myself
together anymore, so be it
I just let you know
then you can come
to accept it too

I will soon be about
630 million impersonal
particles, dust
of course
without consciousness
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 1-3 "Hit-the-spittoon"

Collection "Low gear"
Nov 2023 · 402
[ She is unswerving ]
Zywa Nov 2023
She is unswerving,

imperious: a fortress --


may not move, never.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 1-3 "Hit-the-spittoon"

Collection "Low gear"
Nov 2023 · 768
[ Drowning refugees ]
Zywa Nov 2023
Drowning refugees,

sailing to the other side --


of their hope, their dream.
Novel "Munya" (name: "Wish/Desire/ What is longed for permanently even though it is very difficult to get", 2008, Abdelkader Benali), chapter Morocco

Collection "Passage Passion"
Nov 2023 · 565
[ When I can't handle ]
Zywa Nov 2023
When I can't handle

it anymore, I am saved --


by hours of boredom.
Novel "Munya" (name: "Wish/Desire/ What is longed for permanently even though it is very difficult to get", 2008, Abdelkader Benali), chapter Morocco

Collection "VacantVoid"
Nov 2023 · 401
[ I'm ashamed, I eat ]
Zywa Nov 2023
I'm ashamed, I eat

brownie crumbs, in the movie --


I've **** in my mouth.
Being an extra - Novel "Munya" (name: "Wish/Desire/ What is longed for permanently even though it is very difficult to get", 2008, Abdelkader Benali), chapter Morocco

Collection "Appearances"
Nov 2023 · 413
[ Being in love, blind ]
Zywa Nov 2023
Being in love, blind,

but don't be blind later on --


It would be the end.
Novel "Munya" (name: "Wish/Desire/ What is longed for permanently even though it is very difficult to get", 2008, Abdelkader Benali), chapter Amsterdam

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 0s"
Nov 2023 · 426
[ Just you, all of you ]
Zywa Nov 2023
Just you, all of you,

and my imagination --


and my hankering.
Song "Just (After Song of Songs)" (2014, David Lang), used in 2015 in the film "Youth" by Paolo Sorrentino; performed by Lichtbende in the Organpark on November 17th, 2023

Collection "org anp ark" #321
Nov 2023 · 337
[ Your world is inside ]
Zywa Nov 2023
Your world is inside

your head, existing inside --


real reality.
Lecture "Avenir de la poésie" ("The Future of Poetry", Paul Éluard, October 2nd, 1937) - "Il y a un autre monde, mais il est dans celui-ci" ("There is another world, but it is inside this one")

Collection "Appearances"
Nov 2023 · 315
[ My father narrates ]
Zywa Nov 2023
My father narrates,

the speaker is off, I film --


deep inside his mind.
Documentary "Scenes with My Father" (2022, Biserka Suran) - Conversation on a bench in front of an abandoned factory; there is a loudspeaker next to the entrance

Collection "New Ago"
Nov 2023 · 341
[ It's like a Hopper ]
Zywa Nov 2023
It's like a Hopper

painting, sitting on a bench --


next to my father.
Documentary "Scenes with My Father" (2022, Biserka Suran) - Conversation on a bench in front of an abandoned factory; there is a loudspeaker next to the entrance - Scenery as a painting by Edward Hopper (Nyack 1882-1967)

Collection "New Ago"
Nov 2023 · 739
[ Back in the Garden ]
Zywa Nov 2023
Back in the Garden

of Love, I walk around lost --


among gravestones.
Poem "The Garden of Love" (1789, William Blake), set to music in 2003 by Jacob ter Veldhuis ('Jacob TV'), performed by Lichtbende in the Organpark on November 17th, 2023

Collection "org anp ark" #319
Nov 2023 · 675
[ Sand lays a ribbon ]
Zywa Nov 2023
Sand lays a ribbon

of rolling shapes covering --


the edge of the land.
Dunes - Poems "In de Grote Storm van" en "Zand is een vorm" ("In the Great Storm of" and "Sand is a shape", 2017, Wendela de Vos)

Collection "Truder"
Nov 2023 · 1.5k
[ Not a real hug ]
Zywa Nov 2023
It stopped working,

it's fake love, not a real hug:


no more alcohol!
Column "Belofte" ("Promise", 2023, Ellen Deckwitz), in the NRC on November 6th, 2023

Collection "Death on Cast"
Nov 2023 · 355
[ Don't fear disaster ]
Zywa Nov 2023
Don't fear disaster,

grandma says, but I dream it --


happens anyway.
Book "The Book of Premonitions" (2023) - children aged 11 and 12 give their view of the future

Collection "Stream"
Nov 2023 · 210
[ Sadness is within ]
Zywa Nov 2023
Sadness is within,

first a series of crackers --


and then howling dogs.
Poem "Minesweeper" ("Minesweeper", 2016, Ronelda Kamfer)

Collection "Actively Passive"
Nov 2023 · 1.2k
[ Her pious father ]
Zywa Nov 2023
Her pious father

locks me up and my girlfriend --


he pulls to the bed.
Poem "Getuienis" ("Testimony", 2016, Ronelda Kamfer)

Collection "Within the walls"
Nov 2023 · 590
[ I left her behind ]
Zywa Nov 2023
I left her behind,

'See you tomorrow', I thought --


it would be okay.
Poem "antie Gerty, suster Kamfer, antie Trui" ("aunt Gerty, sister Kamfer, aunt Trui", 2016, Ronelda Kamfer)

Collection "Home sea"
Nov 2023 · 267
[ Mother just lies there ]
Zywa Nov 2023
Mother just lies there.

Mama, do you hear me, please --


Mama, please wake up!
Poem "antie Gerty, suster Kamfer, antie Trui" ("aunt Gerty, sister Kamfer, aunt Trui", 2016, Ronelda Kamfer)

Collection "Home sea"
Nov 2023 · 178
[ Just tell who you are ]
Zywa Nov 2023
Just tell who you are,

tell it like a story, then --


it won't be too bad.
Novel "Lighthousekeeping" (2004, Jeanette Winterson), chapter Two Atlantics

Collection "Appearances"
Nov 2023 · 247
[ In the dark I can ]
Zywa Nov 2023
In the dark I can

see what I want, like a book --


a bed, my mother.
Novel "Lighthousekeeping" (2004, Jeanette Winterson), chapter Two Atlantics

Collection "Within the walls"
Nov 2023 · 204
[ I learn the stories ]
Zywa Nov 2023
I learn the stories

while I'm listening to them --


While I'm telling them.
Novel "Lighthousekeeping" (2004, Jeanette Winterson), chapter Known point in the darkness

Collection "Held/True"
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