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615 · Oct 2022
[ Birthday: the sweetest ]
Zywa Oct 2022
Birthday: the sweetest


I have goes, with the sweetest --



I had, my darlings.
"Het liefste wat ik heb is elf geworden" ("The sweetest thing I have turned eleven", 1990, Herman de Coninck) --- Collection "Shortages"
Zywa Sep 9
Up here on the hill

where grandma came so often --


times flow together.
Collection "Silent walk"
614 · May 2022
[ Our club is losing ]
Zywa May 2022
Our club is losing,

the little flags rustle like --


pouring cold water.
Originally the first line was: England is losing

Collection "PumicePieces"
614 · Jun 2022
Meagrebeast
Zywa Jun 2022
The poet dreams romantic
of unearthly beautiful women
and he mocks the ordinary people

He's bluffing he will reveal
the women's secret
their fondest heart's desire

In the end he promises
loyalty to an old woman
whose words laugh at him

"Women want to be the boss
of their husband and their lover
not allow them a life of their own"

like in the land of Meagrebeast
where this truth is lied
by women who are jealous

and who defend their husbands
so they don't have to go to bed
with their wrong
Meagrebeast: Chichevache ("Meagre cow"), the name which Geoffrey Chaucer gave to Chichifache ("Uglyface"), the werewolf, which, according to a French legend, only fed itself with obedient wives and was therefore very skinny

And the panther-bull Bicorn ("Two-horn") devours kind husbands, so he is plump and stuffed

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) closes the "Clerk's Tale" with a song about Griselda, in which he refers to Meagre cow

Collection "Mastress"
613 · Aug 2023
[ 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"
613 · Mar 2024
[ Cruel potentates ]
Zywa Mar 2024
Cruel potentates

establish 'peace', simply by --


creating wastelands.
Political biography "De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae" ("On the life and character of Julius Agricola", AD 98, Publius Cornelius Tacitus), § 30: 'Auferre trucidare rapere falsis nominibus imperium, atque ibi solitudinem faciunt, pacem apellant' ('To robbery, slaughter, plunder, they give the lying name of empire, and where they make a desert they call it peace')

Collection "May the Might"
Zywa Apr 2022
Dad did it unnoticed
I was his princess
he fulfilled all my wishes
and I had no suspicion

We moved to France
I didn't have much to do
besides my lessons, enough
time for Eddie, a nice boy

I had the age
and suddenly it went fast
the engagement, the secret
of the rings, tailor, hairdresser

and then finally the wedding
Afterwards, I asked questions
Mama taught me that there is more
than the things that happen to us

more than what goes wrong
between people, we walked
away from the men
and counted our blessings
Collection "It takes a lot of tries to make a début"
613 · Feb 2022
[ I penetrate her ]
Zywa Feb 2022
I penetrate her,

digging for her promises --


my soul roves about.
Immigrant
"Genker liefde" ("Genk love", 2017, Mustafa Kör)

Collection "Truder"
612 · Jul 2024
[ Beware, he kisses ]
Zywa Jul 2024
Beware, he kisses

beside my cheek nowadays --


as if I am air.
Autobiographical account "De harde kern" - 1 ("The *******" - 1, 1992, Frida Vogels), and "Diary 1966-1967" (2009) - July 2ND, 1967 in Bologna

Collection "Trench Walking"
612 · May 2024
[ How healthy are you ]
Zywa May 2024
How healthy are you

when you function very well --


in society?
"It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society", attributed to Jiddu Krishnamurti in "The Eden Express: A Memoir of Insanity" (1975, Mark Vonnegut), based on "Commentaries on Living - Series 3" (1960, Jiddu Krishnamurti), written in the 30s and 40s

Collection "Rasping ants"
612 · Jan 2023
[ The Friesian horses ]
Zywa Jan 2023
The Friesian horses,

stepping in black cloths with hoods --


and snorting with life.
After reading the poem "Paarden met mantels" ("Horses with cloths", 1994, Arjen Duinker)

Collection "PumicePieces"
610 · Jan 2024
[ Sometimes I hear bells ]
Zywa Jan 2024
Sometimes I hear bells

ringing, high in the blue sky --


blue aerial bells.
"Maurits en de feiten" ("Maurits and the facts", 1986, Gerrit Krol), § 3

Collection "On the fly"
609 · Jul 2023
Our beautiful life
Zywa Jul 2023
Our beautiful life, preserved
against the cold that may return:

cans with beans, old newspapers
worn out clothes, jars of jam
up to the ceiling
the hard land, and the hard way
of the great leaders, and the little ones
who fought for their own advantage
the heroes of steel, later torn
from their home and from the books

But we are still there, in our musty house
we still share - a beautiful life
Documentary film "Liefde is aardappelen" ("Love is potatoes", 2017, Aliona van der Horst)

Collection "The drama"
609 · Jul 2023
[ If I could gull, I ]
Zywa Jul 2023
If I could gull, I

would comfortably eat fish --


near the herring stall.
Column "Meeuw" ("Gull", Georgina Verbaan, in NRC, June 17th, 2017)

Collection "No wonder"
Zywa Nov 2021
The air roars and shakes:

Move, move! I hide myself, half --


behind the window.
Collection "NightWatch"
Zywa Aug 23
Spring unfolds my eyes

to the great beauty of what --


I already know.
Collection "WoofWoof"
608 · Apr 2023
[ What a strange office ]
Zywa Apr 2023
What a strange office!

Still, it turned out that I stayed:


I got used to it.
"Het Bureau - Afgang" ("The Office - Failure", 2000, Han Voskuil), page 218-219, Maarten Koning and Jantje Bavelaar on her farewell (1983)

Collection "(Not too bad [1974-1989]"
608 · Oct 2023
[ Boys thinking to be ]
Zywa Oct 2023
Boys thinking to be

a good lover, sink their claws --


into the girl's soul.
Novel "De eeuwige jachtvelden" (1995, "The happy hunting grounds", 1999 Nanne Tepper), first paragraph of the Second book

Collection "Within the walls"
608 · Jul 2023
[ The songs of that time ]
Zywa Jul 2023
The songs of that time

were our world, the places where --


we saw each other.
Poem "Het tankstation op de route" - 2 ("The filling station on the route" - 2, 2013, Jan Baeke

Collection "Stall"
608 · Dec 2022
[ There are boys, hunting ]
Zywa Dec 2022
There are boys, hunting

me to a detour, I'm tired --


It is getting dark.
Collection "NightWatch"
607 · Apr 2022
I live what lives
Zywa Apr 2022
My mind has remained empty
no voice, no inspirations
nothing divine, just
what was already there
what I have found

I peeled, viewed
the persistent thoughts
with which I was raised
the many lies that bind me
to a false image of who I am

of us and the others
as strangers of each other
who I should fear and keep away
with their customs, interesting
perhaps, but uncomfortable

Empty, I let the scents
flow through me
I can't hold them
only experience them, I live
what lives
Book "The lies that bind -- Rethinking identity" (2018, Kwame Anthony Appiah)

Collection "Metamorphic body"
606 · Oct 2022
[ A girl in the camp ]
Zywa Oct 2022
A girl in the camp

is forced to sing every night --


In her heart she cries.
Deportations
"Different Trains - After the war" (1988, Steve *****), performed by the Dudok Quartet on Friday September 30th, 2022

Collection "org anp ark" #225
606 · Dec 2024
[ The road has lost us ]
Zywa Dec 2024
The road has lost us,

we have left it, over there --


it's looking for us.
Poem "Over de weg" ("The road", 1998, Eva Gerlach)

Collection "Passage Passion"
606 · Jul 2023
[ Disabled people ]
Zywa Jul 2023
Disabled people

evolve, as human beings --


they become braver.
Novel "The Good Apprentice" (1985, Iris Murdoch), chapter 2, part 6

Collection "Unspoken"
605 · Mar 25
[ Love is a moon, it ]
Zywa Mar 25
Love is a moon, it

changes from day to day, there's --


increase, there's decrease.
Novel "De stiefmoeder" (2011, "The Stepmother", Renate Dorrestein), part 'Claire', chapter Five

L'amore è come la luna: quando non aumenta, diminuisce (Love is like the moon: when it does not increase, it decreases)

Collection "Old sore"
605 · Aug 2022
[ Although you like me ]
Zywa Aug 2022
Although you like me,

I'll be alone again, once --


you got to know me.
Dagboekroman "Allesverpletterende - Faxen aan Ger #3" (Diary-novel "All-crushing - Faxing to Ger #3", July 9th, 1998, published 2019, Nicolien Mizee)

Collection "Out of place"
605 · Oct 2019
Family bed
Zywa Oct 2019
Shoot me, shoot me
shoot me to heaven
up in the oak, everyone
barefoot on the family bed
.....Come join us, here you are free!

We don't have to believe in anything
except in each other, the singer too
is loose, he laughs at his amulet
and waves to the old man:
.....Come join us, here you are free!

The greybeard sees everything
with twinkling eyes in his long beard
full of bushes of moss in which
the wren whistles:
.....Come join us, here you are free!

Come in the Crown
take off your shoes and socks
together on the family bed
a warm blanket to each other
.....Come join us, here you are free!
“Come together” (1969, John Lennon)

Celtic symbolism: Ouir (the Oak), the tree of calm, truth and steadfast knowledge; the Oak should be guided by Dagda (the father of all gods) and the Wren (the king of the birds and the symbol of wit and subtlety)

Singer: Chuck Berry

Collection “Lilith's Powers" #28
604 · Oct 2022
[ I saw 'Les amants' ]
Zywa Oct 2022
I saw 'Les amants'

and then I walked home, longing --


to love as they did.
Memoires "Het verkoolde alfabet" (Memoirs "The carbonised alphabet", 1992, Paul de Wispelaere)

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 80s and 90s"
604 · Apr 2022
[ In the gold corner ]
Zywa Apr 2022
In the gold corner

of our room it is, the black --


in-depth Holiness.
Painting "Black Square" (Kazimir Malevich) as an icon at the exhibition "0.10" in Petrograd (Saint Petersburg, 1915)

Collection "Secrets & Believers"
603 · Dec 2022
[ Left and right, voters ]
Zywa Dec 2022
Left and right, voters

all are unfortunately --


against welfare cuts.
"The Limits to Growth: a global challenge – A Report for the Club of Rome's Project on the Predicament of Mankind" (1972)

"Het Bureau - Plankton" ("The Office - Plankton", 1997, Han Voskuil)

Collection "Not too bad [1974-1989]"
603 · Oct 2022
[ I finally have ]
Zywa Oct 2022
I finally have

reached my ideal love, right now --


the loss can begin.
"Philip en de anderen" ("Philip and the others", 1954, Cees Nooteboom)

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 40s and 50s"
602 · Aug 2023
[ Educational ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Educational

books are given to children --


who are our teachers.
"The Queen of the Tambourine" (1991, Jane Gardam), § March 10th (1990)

Collection "On the fly"
602 · Aug 2019
Hellstone
Zywa Aug 2019
The student is curious
he cuts in the deceased
according to the surgical guide
as the master he wants to be

Bodies are interesting
to discover during the holidays
and later give explanations
to the other students, in passing

The farmers watch in silence
how man is an animal
a large species of frog
they don't care about science

Oh dear, fresh blood, give me hellstone
quick, take the bottle from your bag
to disinfect the wound, burn it
away to a large black hole

The district doctor shakes his head
how could mister student think
he would have money
for something so precious as silver!
Hellstone is the name for AgNO3 (silver nitrate oxide)

“Otcy i deti” (“Fathers and children”/“Fathers and sons”, 1862, Ivan Turgenev)

Collection "BloodTrunk"
601 · Apr 2022
[ My body welcomes ]
Zywa Apr 2022
My body welcomes

many guests, it is a home --


for thoughts and feelings.
Doubled verse "A house of coming and going", part V, 3644-3645 and 3671, 13th century (Mohamed Jalal od-Dīn Balkhi Rumi)

Collection "Inmost"
601 · Sep 13
Silent walk
Zywa Sep 13
I strayed off
No weeds over here
Time rushes by
on a busy track

Full trains without me!
Replaced by someone else
so I hope for my colleagues

Don't worry
we'll be fine
you do look very good
you are free!

Wagons of words!
I am alone here!
On raked paths
Collection "Silent walk"
600 · Dec 2021
[ The tuba stays here ]
Zywa Dec 2021
The tuba stays here,

I can't play it anymore --


this very last time.
"Landverhuizers" ("Emigrants", written for a friend who emigrated to Colombia, 2018, Carmien Michels)

Collection "Appearances"
600 · Mar 2022
[ I watched secretly ]
Zywa Mar 2022
I watched secretly,

my grandpa was dead, he screamed:


three gold teeth pulled out.
"De gouden tanden" ("The golden teeth", 2015, Ali Şerik)

Collection "Shelter"
600 · Aug 28
Death on the Dyle
Zywa Aug 28
Is it only safe
in a cloister of cloaking
clothes and within the walls
of kitchen and children's room?

Or will you risk
being a witch
according to frightened people
who will conspire against you?

A witch who fights off
and cannot be forced
by the pitifulness of a man
or the knife of robbers

The cuts hurt
the water is cold
and the night is dark
in the mud of the riverbank

I hoped for strong daughters
and sweet sons, sensible
and helpful, but
shall I ever have them?
"Proud Maggie" (Margaret of Louvain, 1207-1225)

Collection "Blown sand"
600 · Jan 2023
[ Our unconscious mind ]
Zywa Jan 2023
Our unconscious mind

is very dark, so we dream --


of the dawn of day.
Vorrede zum Buch "Morgenröte. Gedanken über die moralischen Vorurteile" ("The Dawn of Day - Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality", 1881, Friedrich Nietzsche)

Collection "Moist glow"
598 · Aug 2023
[ The rich, exhausted ]
Zywa Aug 2023
The rich, exhausted

from all the deprivations --


of their agenda.
"The Queen of the Tambourine" (1991, Jane Gardam), § late January and March 10th (1990)

Collection "Rasping ants"
594 · Mar 2022
[ Springtime in my blood ]
Zywa Mar 2022
Springtime in my blood,

I want to do a whole lot --


that really can't wait.
For Ineke J

Collection "Different times'
594 · Aug 1
[ Once again we walk ]
Zywa Aug 1
Once again we walk

by the sea, as yet looking --


so expectantly.
Poem "Ik loop weer naast je" ("I walk beside you again", 1994, Frida Vogels), published in "De harde kern 3" ("The *******", part III [Ennio and Kees]) and in "Dagboek 1958-1959" ("Diary 1958-1959", 2006) - May 19th, 1958, Luxemburg (about the beach walk with Kees near Bergen on May 17th, 1958)

Collection "Trench Walking"
594 · Jan 19
[ He admires my shoes ]
Zywa Jan 19
He admires my shoes,

unaware of the beauty --


of my tempting toes.
Novella "De heilige Antonio" ("The Saint of the Impossible" / "Saint Antonio", 1998, Arnon Grunberg), chapter 14

Collection "Unseen"
594 · Mar 2022
[ The music of Bach ]
Zywa Mar 2022
The music of Bach

is grief comforting people --


with touching beauty.
Collection "Pending rain"
593 · Nov 2023
[ 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"
592 · Aug 2024
[ My signature then ]
Zywa Aug 2024
My signature then:

who I was, sixteen years old --


with a line through it.
Autobiographical account "De harde kern" - 2 ("The *******" - 2, 1993, Frida Vogels), 1946 in Amsterdam

Collection "Trench Walking"
592 · Sep 2021
For girls and for peace
Zywa Sep 2021
The song, that girl, touches me
time and time again, although I don't want to
think often of her

That girl without hair comb
without dress, just only a number
on her hand

and Antonis who carries someone else's burden

For whom do I carry the burden
of their lives, why
is their life also mine?

It just has to be for you
neighbour, for you, refugee
for girls and for peace
The Ballad of Mauthausen (1963, Iakovos Kambanellis; 1965, music Mikis Theodorakis; 1966, performed by Maria Farantouri)

Collection "BloodTrunk"
592 · Apr 2023
[ He's lying there weird ]
Zywa Apr 2023
He's lying there weird,

his body is not sleeping --


it is left behind.
Novel "Ik ben er niet" ("I'm not there", 2020, Lize Spit), page 267

Collection "Shelter"
591 · Jun 4
Sensitive love
Zywa Jun 4
There is a lot I can no longer
do spontaneously
I touch myself with caution
and rather let you look

than act, but sometimes
the tingling of your
caress arouses unfulfillable needs
deeper and deeper in me

They are sleeping
in my cells, still
desiring to jump you
but your hands ward me off

as a precaution, so sensitive
are our skin and our bones
so painful it can be
to wish to be young
Collection "More"
590 · Jun 2022
The barbarians have come
Zywa Jun 2022
The barbarians have come
and they keep coming
century after century

We are polite, we give
them high titles
They give us their laws

in a nice speech
with eloquent words
about civilisation in our wilderness

that we nota bene no longer
need to live like savages
no longer in the wilderness

The barbarians have come
and they keep coming
century after century obedient

to the right and the interests
that threaten them with the strong arm
the hard hand, and a ripped out tongue
#14 "Periménontas tous Barbárous" ("Waiting for the Barbarians" (1904, Konstantínos Kaváfis)

The Iroquois are the league of the five tribes (nations) Mohawk, Oneida, Onanondaga, Cayuga and Seneca; this league is called Kaianerekowa = Great Law of Peace

In the council of the league are speakers (sachem) those who bring the position of their group and try to convince the others to agree with it (the Aztecs named these speakers 'tlatoani', with Moctezuma as huey-tlatoami [supreme speaker]); it is honorable to be a speaker, but there is no power attached to it, so that the settlers wrongly treated the speakers as 'chief'

Collection "The drama"
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