Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
Feb 2023 · 1.1k
[ You're getting older ]
Zywa Feb 2023
You're getting older,

tomorrow is not at all --


the day that would come.
"Farväl" ("Farewell", 2020, Jens Christian Grøndahl)

Collection "Stream"
Feb 2023 · 365
[ The sexton enjoys ]
Zywa Feb 2023
The sexton enjoys

lamenting about God's love --


and the vale of tears.
"Farväl" ("Farewell", 2020, Jens Christian Grøndahl)

Collection "Truder"
Feb 2023 · 567
[ Father is buried ]
Zywa Feb 2023
Father is buried,

there is more light now, the sky --


is so much wider.
"Het Bureau - Het A.P. Beerta-Instituut" ("The Office - The A.P. Beerta-Institute", 1998, Han Voskuil), page 45

Collection "Not too bad [1974-1989]"
Feb 2023 · 443
[ Some people blame me ]
Zywa Feb 2023
Some people blame me

for my normal, daily face:


You should have a rest!
"Het Bureau - Het A.P. Beerta-Instituut" ("The Office - The A.P. Beerta-Institute", 1998, Han Voskuil), page 131

Collection "Not too bad [1974-1989]
Feb 2023 · 183
[ I can't handle him ]
Zywa Feb 2023
I can't handle him,

only could beat him to death --


but I can't do that.
"Het Bureau - Het A.P. Beerta-Instituut" ("The Office - The A.P. Beerta-Institute", 1998, Han Voskuil), page 167

Collection "Not too bad [1974-1989]
Feb 2023 · 299
Opening
Zywa Feb 2023
Outside is the earth, the life
of lungs, hearts and legs
Outside we experience the wonder
of everything around us
Outside we live the wonder
of who we are

Within is heaven, the creative soul
of our life together
Within we unfold
and we give the best
Within we are open
to what the world offers

Open, I let
the outside in and
the inside out
like a stream
Open, I am
I receive and I care
"Genesis" ("Bereshit")

"Morgenspruch für die Klassen 5-12" ("Morning verse for grades 5-12", September 7th, 1919, Rudolf Steiner)

Collection "From Sacred Scriptures [1]"
Feb 2023 · 439
[ It's always the same ]
Zywa Feb 2023
It's always the same:

there must be a better way --


So, should I do it?
Collection "From Sacred Scriptures [1]"
Feb 2023 · 464
Sea above the sea
Zywa Feb 2023
There's a thin sea drifting
above the sea, I float
everywhere, infinitely
between ancestors
and unborn

The sea kisses and plays
pulls me under water
up in high foams
which splash apart into
my new rainbow wisps

over the sea, from the sea
the bearing sea
engulfing sea
evaporating sea

making depths out
of valleys, creative
darkness, the sea
the full empty sea
Composition "From and To Infinity", for voice and 70 bamboo flutes (2019, BOI AKIH: Niels Brouwer; lyrics Monica Akihary), intro

The version for voice, guitar, kora, percussion, recorder and ***** (2023) was performed in the Organpark on January 29th, 2023, by Monica Akihary (voice, kalimba), Niels Brouwer (guitars), Sekou Dioubate (kora, slit drum), Dodó Kis (recorders), and Nora Mulder (*****)

Collection "org anp ark" #270
Feb 2023 · 721
[ I surrender and ]
Zywa Feb 2023
I surrender and

dance, at home, across the room --


singing with my arms.
On January 21, 2023 Giulio Tosti improvises on the Verschueren ***** in the Organpark, under the title "Nebula"

Collection "org anp ark" #266
Feb 2023 · 415
Stomping disquiet
Zywa Feb 2023
Unrest. Lotte is ill
I grab my backpack
my compass and some clothes
put on my boots, a jacket
and I'm out of doors

On my way to Lotte
Being alone with myself
As long as I'm on the road
she will live
she will not die

She's not going to die, it mustn't be
She's not going to die, she's not going to die
No, no, not now, not yet
It's not the time yet
She mustn't, she won't

My steps stomp
The earth shakes
Where I go, a bison rumbles
Where I rest, a mountain rests
When I'm there, she'll be alive
Journey book "Vom Gehen im Eis" ("Walking in Ice", 1978, Werner Herzog) - Walking from München to Lotte Eisner in Paris, November 23rd to December 14th, 1974

Collection "Reaching out"
Zywa Feb 2023
In times when you're bored,

you just don't know what to do --


with your vague desires.
In reference to the story "Edith Wengler" (2020, Jens Christian Grøndahl)

Collection "Slow circles"
Feb 2023 · 719
[ High in the mountains ]
Zywa Feb 2023
High in the mountains:

the silence, the absence, most --


of all of myself.
Story "Edith Wengler" (2020, Jens Christian Grøndahl)

Collection "Inmost"
Feb 2023 · 363
[ You only need to ]
Zywa Feb 2023
You only need to

understand yourself, really --


no one needs to know.
Story "Edith Wengler" (2020, Jens Christian Grøndahl)

Collection "Home sea"
Feb 2023 · 550
[ 'Love you too', you say ]
Zywa Feb 2023
'Love you too', you say.

It sounds like an echo, like --


something from the past.
"Villa Ada" (2020, Jens Christian Grøndahl)

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 20s and 30s"
Feb 2023 · 362
[ Don't ask for the sense ]
Zywa Feb 2023
Don't ask for the sense

of what's happening to you --


no, you must keep heart!
"Villa Ada" (2020, Jens Christian Grøndahl)

Collection "On the fly"
Jan 2023 · 618
Lightship
Zywa Jan 2023
More and more colours join the flag
until the whole spectrum shines like a sun
a beacon
on the troubled journey

It's just a flag
nonviolent communication
in the wind
a silent look

The pole a magic wand
a seeress, beacon
of patience
made of the right stuff

Oak and elder, willow, fig and fir
the trees of Mother Earth
beech and birch, cedar, cypress
so many more than elm and ash

A healing staff
with a robe to wear
in the colours of our soul
all colours of light
Rainbow flag

Poem "Völuspá" ("Prophecy of the Sorceress/Seeress"):
The three forefathers of the divine Aesir (Breathing creatures/Asians), Odin, Vili and Ve, formed the female human from the elm tree/vine (embla) and the male human from the ash tree (asker)

Collection "Without reserve"
Jan 2023 · 536
[ People are equal ]
Zywa Jan 2023
People are equal,

Article 1 states, but who --


does obey the law?
Article 1 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands reads: "All persons in the Netherlands shall be treated equally in equal circumstances. Discrimination on the grounds of religion, belief, political opinion, race, ***, ****** orientation, disability, or on any other grounds whatsoever shall not be permitted.

Collection "Without reserve"
Jan 2023 · 755
[ After a few years ]
Zywa Jan 2023
After a few years,

his love is dull, his smell not --


pleasant anymore.
"Verwachtingen" ("Expectations", 2022, Thomas Heerma van Voss)

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 20s and 30s"
Jan 2023 · 914
[ Yet what does it mean ]
Zywa Jan 2023
Yet what does it mean

that you have taken my hands --


in yours just like that?
"Verwachtingen" ("Expectations", 2022, Thomas Heerma van Voss)

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 20s and 30s"
Jan 2023 · 634
[ We can indeed laugh ]
Zywa Jan 2023
We can indeed laugh

at ourselves, the two of us --


if nobody knows.
Emperor Charles V (Gent 1500-1558) writes to his sister Maria (Brussels 1505-1558): 'I'm sure you didn't write that without laughing, and I had to laugh too when I read it. [..] I am writing all this to you to laugh and to make a fool of ourselves, because I really need that.'
Jan 2023 · 341
[ Can people be smart ]
Zywa Jan 2023
Can people be smart

enough to truly judge --


whether they believe?
Piety
"Dage som græs" ("Days like grass", 2020, Jens Christian Grøndahl)

Collection "Thinkles Lusionless"
Jan 2023 · 755
[ The dancer, amazed ]
Zywa Jan 2023
The dancer, amazed,

keeps revealing secret doors --


that no one can see.
"Les secrets sont des portes" ("Secrets are doors", 1959, Edmond Jabès)

Collection "Inmost"
Jan 2023 · 3.9k
[ Together we can ]
Zywa Jan 2023
Together we can

untangle our confessions --


before the mirror.
"Un aveu est un nœud" ("A confession is a knot", 1959, Edmond Jabès)

Collection "Inmost"
Jan 2023 · 902
[ It is just broken ]
Zywa Jan 2023
It is just broken,

but no one said anything --


that is the bad thing.
"Het Bureau - Plankton" ("The Office - Plankton", 1997, Han Voskuil)

Collection "Not too bad [1947-1973]"
Jan 2023 · 337
[ Does society ]
Zywa Jan 2023
Does society

choose my friends critically --


from people on hand?
Philosphy of behaviour (Behaviorism)

"Beyond freedom and dignity" (1971, Burrhus Skinner)

Collection "Freend"
Jan 2023 · 1.2k
Mirror on the wall
Zywa Jan 2023
The world reflects everything
from everyone, but luckily
we see very little of it

Except, unfortunately, the queen
who gains in beauty every day
But young men don't see it

They shout: the princess
is more beautiful - their fantasy
of daily pleasure, a dream

of effortlessly becoming king
So Helen does not trust herself
She looks in the mirror

that lies a false truth
she walks to the lake
(guards follow her remotely)

Her eyes search the water
her lips talk to the wash of the waves
her hands reach for a golden fish
Ye Xian (Yeh-Shen) and Snow White

Collection "Different times"
Jan 2023 · 513
[ There are no best years ]
Zywa Jan 2023
There are no best years,

they're different, all of them --


are most beautiful.
Für Maria Godschalk

Collection "Different times"
Jan 2023 · 1.1k
Gobstopper
Zywa Jan 2023
As long as the paint is wet
my finger writes
my diary
in colourful blends

Unspoken questions
dipped hue after hue
and curl in curl on the tip
of my finger, layer on layer

a gobstopper of memories
which I slowly lick off, every time
I want to taste their flavours
and reread my life
For Maria Godschalk

Collection "The Yellow House Museum"
Jan 2023 · 995
[ I enjoy paintings ]
Zywa Jan 2023
I enjoy paintings,

looking at all kinds of things --


that aren't really there.
Collection "The Yellow House Museum"
Jan 2023 · 78
Never boring
Zywa Jan 2023
First I look at the man at the table
then at the window of the beach café
still as a photo, white lines around the panes

holding my attention
so beautiful that I don't get bored -
the white! the light! the division of the plane!

I consulted the wisdom
of the internet: Why
are photos never boring?

and I got a doggerel of commonplaces
which ignore the marvel
the marvel of the world

In photos, news reports and holiday
snaps, I now see the background -
the world around us
chat.openai.com --- "Write a poem on: photos are never boring"

"Photos Never Boring"
Photos capture a moment in time
A memory frozen, forever to shine
In frames they sit, still and serene
But in our hearts, they come alive and keen

A smile on a face, a laugh in the air
A sunset so grand, it takes us somewhere
A baby's first steps, a loved one's embrace
These are the moments we can never replace

Photos may seem simple, just paper and ink
But they hold within them, a story to think
A journey through time, a tale to be told
Each one a treasure, to keep and behold

So never say photos are boring or bland
For in each one lies a memory grand
A window to the past, a treasure trove
Photos will never be boring, that's for sure

Collection "WoofWoof"
Jan 2023 · 255
[ Flowers in the park ]
Zywa Jan 2023
Flowers in the park:

people are strolling around --


opening themselves.
Collection "WoofWoof"
Jan 2023 · 361
Forced peace
Zywa Jan 2023
Walking past the signs 'Former
Red Light District' I know I'm dreaming
of a better future

I can imagine it much more easily
than what it is like
to be a man

who buys the use of a body
without any notion what's wrong
I must arm myself against him

Walls? Dullness? Claws?
And company, then I can
laugh at jealous eyes

and the greedy ones
looking away from me
to someone else - no one

will I greet as my master
everyone welcomes me, Servus
where there was once war
Servus = slave (schiavo in Venetian slang) >> announcement of the slave that he is available >> servant >> general greeting in Austria (Servus) and Italy (ciao)

Collection "The Yellow House Museum"
Jan 2023 · 307
[ I am enchanted ]
Zywa Jan 2023
I am enchanted

by the swirling snow, real snow  --


in a big snow globe!
Collection "The Yellow House Museum"
Jan 2023 · 1.1k
Angel's chicks
Zywa Jan 2023
We didn't need anything
we just bumped against each other
and lay together, if so, a nest
of friends, who know to find each other
no matter how far we've flown out

Become angels, who would have thought!

Our soul connection
so familiar at first sight
at each reunion - forever young
is my chicken heart then, my skin
of flesh and blood, forever young

our spirit - but oddly
detached are our wings
our cheeks and the air kisses
that escape my lips
or have transcended them
Collection "Greeting from before"
Jan 2023 · 365
[ The tin drum throws me ]
Zywa Jan 2023
The tin drum throws me

back into my childhood days --


everything's in it.
Collection "Greeting from before"
Jan 2023 · 555
[ Quiet as a child ]
Zywa Jan 2023
Quiet as a child

in his mother's arms, quite so --


even is my soul.
Psalm 131:2

Collection "The sweet curve"
Jan 2023 · 851
[ Above the pilgrims ]
Zywa Jan 2023
Above the pilgrims

it flies, the large parasol:


a butterfly swarm.
"The Satanic Verses" (1988, Salman Rushdie), VIII. The parting of the Arabian Sea

Collection "Low gear"
Jan 2023 · 848
Travelling / Travelling
Zywa Jan 2023
Flight fantasies, vacation
'Mind your step'
Security procedures, waiting at the gate

I close my eyes
my thoughts take the autowalk
to destinations with a runway

The lock of the jetway fails
one meter before the cabin door
'Mind your step'

.....Flight fantasies, security
.....'Tomorrow I'll get there'
.....Security procedures, waiting at the fence

.....I close my eyes
.....my thoughts take a high flight
.....to a future on the other side

.....I land in a camp again
.....at a higher fence, a closed gate
.....'Tomorrow I'll get there'
Collection "Blown sand"
Jan 2023 · 1.2k
[ Our heels in the sand ]
Zywa Jan 2023
Our heels in the sand

at kite-flying by the sea --


Not to fly ourselves.
Collection "Blown sand"
Jan 2023 · 292
[ Take off my armour ]
Zywa Jan 2023
Take off my armour,

my helmet, shield and shebang --


I reach out my hand.
"gewoon door je harnas af te doen" ("just by taking off your armour", 2003, Henk van der Waal)

Collection "Skin-contact"
Jan 2023 · 855
[ We were once ashamed ]
Zywa Jan 2023
We were once ashamed

together, now I'm ashamed --


of you, against you.
Memoirs-novel "Combat et métamorphoses d'une femme" ("A Woman's Battles and Transformations", 2021, Édouard Louis)

Collection "Shelter"
Jan 2023 · 1.1k
[ The wind lashes rain ]
Zywa Jan 2023
The wind lashes rain

on the windowpane, so nice --


that I am inside.
Collection "Foghorn"
Jan 2023 · 461
Appearances
Zywa Jan 2023
Because I don't have time
I just like to waste the day
unwashed in a bathrobe

Being myself, at home
in my city bunker -
in front of the window
that mirrors on the outside

If you fly past it
you will see sparrows
being chased off the seed
by ducks who then flee

from the gull army
which has hardened its beaks
four times in the gastric acid
of the Duck family

I am safely offside
and what I don't like
I erase from the screen
Hard swords were made from iron filings, which had been mixed into the feed of ostriches, ducks, or chickens to harden in their stomach acid, and were subsequently recovered from the manure

Collection "Foghorn"
Jan 2023 · 218
Can't I do this too?
Zywa Jan 2023
Most people walk past
At best they think: can't this be better
can't this colouring in boxes
also be done by a child -
      
practice a few times
to fill them in solidly, without scratches
and to stay within the lines, but did they
ever sit down for it themselves?
      
Dot they remember what it feels like?
That you are completely absorbed in it
that time stands still and everything
feels good, that you know
      
well, can't I? Yes
I can do this too!
For Nina T, who was born on January 17th, 2007

Poem to "Colors for a large wall" (1951, Ellsworth Kelly)

Collection "Summer birds"
Jan 2023 · 393
[ One horizon all ]
Zywa Jan 2023
One horizon all

round the green sea, here and there --


a cow sailing by.
Collection "Summer birds"
Jan 2023 · 348
The slow time
Zywa Jan 2023
In bed, in the dark
below the **** I hear
the hum of the river

vessels curve heavily
loaded in the bend
of the slow time

where we never venture, knowing
what happened to that boy
whom nobody knows anymore

where we swim in summer
a few strokes to
and fro in the bay

build lookouts
and are bored
with the creep of

the little waves
the long barges
the slow time

peering
at new cars or other
cargo on deck
Collection "Foghorn"
Jan 2023 · 588
[ They look at me, what ]
Zywa Jan 2023
They look at me, what

did I say?, I thought I heard --


someone else speaking.
Collection "Foghorn"
Jan 2023 · 624
The sails
Zywa Jan 2023
My darling is gone
the earth pushes tidal
tears up through the sand

sails in the east
round me, signs
upon them, I walk

for miles
to spartina and seepweed
and fro to the beacon

build a stone tower there
break stone for stone
read word for word, listen

and build writing and
singing sentence for sentence
our love again
Collection "Foghorn"
Jan 2023 · 473
[ The flag has long frays ]
Zywa Jan 2023
The flag has long frays,

like her hair when she left me --


Her hair in the wind.
Collection "Foghorn"
Jan 2023 · 316
The seasons
Zywa Jan 2023
The canal is green today
grey in the evening twilight
the precolour of winter

Running engines, winter coats and
heat lamps, little red spots
on the skin of the city

We want to vibrate
not repose with the supplies
We bring light and green into our homes

into the insides
of our existence
an eager feeling

no boredom, no tardy time
no long fixed hours
in the low sun's sidelight

We make plans in autumn
we clean up in spring
we repose in summer

Complementary to the season
we feel that we are alive
An eager feeling
Collection "Summer birds"
Next page