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822 · Jun 2022
Snow White's Death
Zywa Jun 2022
Her neck, I remember
was a round ivory tower
not too short, not too long

Snow-white skin
Snow White her name
Who would not love her!

Oh, her shoulders, firm
and soft her arms and legs
round ******* and hips

straight back, perfect beauty
Magic mirror on the wall
who is beloved by all?

We all wished to know her
and hear words from her mouth
that bear witness to our existence

If she was only there
then I could hope
to love her someday
"Book of the Duchess" (1369, Geoffrey Chaucer), also known as "The Deth of Blaunche"

Collection "The Big Secret"
821 · Mar 2022
[ Here, the urban crowd ]
Zywa Mar 2022
Here, the urban crowd,

and there, an extensive field --


I'm feeling lonely.
Collection "The drama"
816 · Jan 2023
[ 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"
816 · Mar 2023
Silent investigation
Zywa Mar 2023
The bell, an unexpected visit:
a gentleman who asks me

to come along, I have to
I am arrested

but only for further investigation
'Please don't make it any worse!'

At the office, I get a seat
'Please wait here, then it will

be fine, it takes time
You do understand, don't you?

Accuracy is required and you are
not the only one. I wish that was true!'



We get food, just enough
in our own stench, silently

arguing around
the growing puddle of *****

over the rotting mattresses
a soft bed of worms

from the breathtaking **** barrel
It seems we've been quietly forgotten

Sometimes someone whispers
if he dares and faces

the angry glances of fear
of caning, so as not to get crazy
India (Goa in 1675, Inquisition)

"Der Process" (1925, Franz Kafka [1883-1924])

Collection "Short Sermons" #30
815 · May 2023
The deputy
Zywa May 2023
With the proceeds he bought the bank
the water company and computer halls
Modern Monopoly. He invested
in advanced filters and the internet

With a wink he kept his title
'Landlord'. Ah, the good old days
Now we are the owners, we pay
the subscriptions and pay off our debt

Things are going well, fewer members
are active, there is talk on the sidelines
and self-interested owners
collect proxies

The administrator acts
opportunistically and follows
the outside world
There is a call

for another system:
with so little involvement
a transfer of power will do -
blank until business is done
Democratic decision tot delegate executive, legislative, and judicial powers to one person of group of super-rich

Landlord / Corps noble (noble body), Corps social (social body) / Aristocracy, Oligarchy

Association of Homeowners / Corps législatif (legislative body) / Democracy

Delegate / Corps commun (communal body) / Populist totalitarianism (Ochlocracy)

Collection "The drama"
814 · Oct 2022
[ Vibrating around ]
Zywa Oct 2022
Vibrating around

the bow- and harp-strings: the souls --


of the listeners.
"Occam XIV" for harp (2017, Éliane Radigue), at the premiere in Paris on April 26th, 2017 and in the Organpark on October 22nd, 2022 performed by Hélène Breschand

Collection "org anp ark" #230
809 · Jul 2023
[ I was seventeen ]
Zywa Jul 2023
I was seventeen,

with all my being I longed --


to offer myself.
Letter to Antonio Cervi, June 29th, 1933, Antonia Pozzi)

Collection "Love Mind and Death"
809 · Mar 2023
[ Spotlights, reflected ]
Zywa Mar 2023
Spotlights, reflected

off the gold celebrity:


image on image.
Collection "BloodTrunk"
808 · Aug 2022
[ The girl I follow ]
Zywa Aug 2022
The girl I follow

would really like to kiss me --


if she just knew me.
"Koningin Hatshepsut" ("Queen Hatshepsut", 2001, Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer)

Collection "Palace of the Night"
805 · Aug 2023
[ You left us behind ]
Zywa Aug 2023
You left us behind,

there is distance now, increased --


by a few letters.
"The Queen of the Tambourine" (1991, Jane Gardam), § December 25th (1989)

Collection "Passage Passion"
801 · May 2023
[ In the gusts of wind ]
Zywa May 2023
In the gusts of wind,

the waves foam yellowish green --


and.. a boat dances.
Collection "Mastress"
Zywa Dec 2022
You'll find pointlessness

when you search from the outside --


for any purpose.
"La distruzione dell' uomo" ("The destruction of man", 1912, Luigi Pirandello)

Collection "Cance"
797 · Aug 2022
[ You say 'Here it is' ]
Zywa Aug 2022
You say 'Here it is',

'goodbye', and you go, away --


from the restaurant.
"Hoog en laag springen - Faxen aan Ger #4" ("Like it or not - Faxing Ger #4", June 6th, 1999, published 2021, Nicolien Mizee)

Collection "Out of place"
796 · Jan 2021
[ The evening sun pours ]
Zywa Jan 2021
The evening sun pours

a dayful of deep colours –


into the fish pond.
Collection "Metamorphic body"
796 · Apr 2022
[ Automatic belts ]
Zywa Apr 2022
Automatic belts

work without having to switch --


Are they analogue?
There are also automatic belts that do switch though, in a rack

Collection "Half The Work"
796 · Nov 2023
[ I am an island ]
Zywa Nov 2023
I am an island,

I just have to wait and see --


if Love docks with me.
Novel "Sexing the cherry" (1989, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "1649" (Anno Domini 1649)

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 80s and 90s"
Zywa Jul 2022
How weird, your trousers!

You really don't care, that's what --


I like about you!
Exercise power with criticism

"Hoog en laag springen - Faxen aan Ger #4" ("Like it or not - Faxing Ger #4", 2021, Nicolien Mizee)

Collection "Out of place"
794 · Feb 18
[ Outside the village ]
Zywa Feb 18
Outside the village,

we let the local bus pass --


the stop, our club house.
Column "Speedy J - Bushalte" ("Speedy J - Bus stop", 2024, Ine Boermans) in the VPRO broadcasting-guide (2024 #6) - Wezup

Collection "Shelter"
792 · May 2023
[ As a reader I ]
Zywa May 2023
As a reader I

would like to buy with each book --


reading time as well.
"Parerga und Paralipomena - Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit" ("Appendices and Omissions - Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life",1851, Arthur Schopenhauer): "Buying books would be a fine thing, if you could buy the time to read them as well, but buying books is often confused with acquiring their content."

Collection "Stall"
791 · Aug 2023
[ A stranger falls, and ]
Zywa Aug 2023
A stranger falls, and

as he falls he is breaking --


in into my life.
Poem "Weet nog wel" ("I remember", 2022, Ester Naomi Perquin)

Collection "Truder"
790 · Oct 2022
[ I pulsate shock waves ]
Zywa Oct 2022
I pulsate shock waves

of pleasure that start pushing --


tides into the sea.
"The dream of the fisherman's wife" (2017, Manon Uphoff)

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 0s and 10s"
789 · Apr 2022
[ An automated answer ]
Zywa Apr 2022
An automated

answer produces a queue --


Length invisible.
Collection "Half The Work"
789 · Jan 2023
[ My world and I were ]
Zywa Jan 2023
My world and I were

growing, as long as we grew --


death did not exist.
Collection "Mastress"
Zywa Apr 21
The beach would be great

if it did not shine so much --


from the blazing sun.
Poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter" in the children's book "Through the Looking-Glass", chapter 4 (1871, Lewis Carroll)

Collection "Here &Now&"
788 · Jun 2023
[ My lawyer comes in ]
Zywa Jun 2023
My lawyer comes in

with a very thick folder --


and I lie in it.
Novel "Letselschade" ("Personal injury", 2022, Vonne van der Meer)

Collection "After the festivities"
787 · Aug 2022
[ My neighbours make love ]
Zywa Aug 2022
My neighbours make love,

oh, so outrageously cheap --


these thin chamber walls!
"Der Zauberberg" ("The Magic Mountain", 1924, Thomas Mann)

Collection "Moist glow"
787 · Jan 2022
[ Happiness: beware ]
Zywa Jan 2022
Happiness: beware,

if you prefer to spare it --


you will choke on it.
"De troostzoekers" ("The comfort seekers", 25 december 2020, Mareike Lucas Rijneveld)

Bundel "Om Armen"
785 · Jan 2023
[ Beauty: a flower ]
Zywa Jan 2023
Beauty: a flower,

two people in love, or three --


high bar releases.
August 7th, 2012, Epke Zonderland - Olympic champion in the high bar

Collection "The Yellow House Museum"
785 · Apr 2022
[ Magic requires that ]
Zywa Apr 2022
Magic requires that

you see exactly what's there:


real reality.
"Het filmarchief van majoor Decoster" ("Major Decoster's film archive", 1992, Hubert Lampo)

Collection "(No wonder"
784 · Dec 2021
The small world
Zywa Dec 2021
When my friend comes
I don't have to do
anything to make things
happen, shamelessly

we are who we want to be
we let warm breaths
play with happiness
in our blood, and exchange

words for bites
of peace in our belly
- the small world
...of contentment

...in the big world
...of striving -
until we are satisfied
and stop laughing
Collection "More"
784 · Dec 2022
[ Think of the office ]
Zywa Dec 2022
Think of the office

as a madhouse, then the rest --


is pretty normal.
"Het Bureau - Plankton" ("The Office - Plankton", 1997, Han Voskuil)

Collection "Not too bad [1974-1989]"
784 · Mar 2022
Horses are the same
Zywa Mar 2022
I don't want to be an object
of course, but human, a subject
not completely free perhaps

but also not in the hell
of other people's judgment
because I don't ignore

that I am an individual we
an individual love
that falls short

sometimes individual cruel
self-interest, short-sighted
by built-in blinkers

against my nervous fear
of the purgatory of the failures
of other people and myself

(Whoever wants more freedom
and does leave the herd, will know
to be in hell right then)
"L'enfer, c'est les Autres" ("Hell is Other people"), from the one-act play "Huis clos" ("Closed doors", 1943, Jean-Paul Sartre)

Collection "The drama"
783 · Oct 2023
[ In the neon light ]
Zywa Oct 2023
In the neon light,

shadows appear and vanish --


Strolling nightlife girls.
"Desolation Angels" (1965, Jack Kerouac), chapter 1-2-65: "Neons, Chinese restaurants / coming on - / Girls come by shades"

Collection "MistI"
783 · Nov 2022
[ If knowledge is off ]
Zywa Nov 2022
If knowledge is off,

there are only wishful dreams --


as moral guidance.
"The Satanic Verses" (1988, Salman Rushdie), chapter V. "A city visible but unseen"

Collection "Low gear"
782 · Sep 2023
[ 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]"
779 · Aug 2023
[ 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"
779 · Apr 2022
[ An automatic gun ]
Zywa Apr 2022
An automatic

gun does not fire by itself --


There is time to think.
Collection "Half The Work"
779 · Jan 2022
Here I am
Zywa Jan 2022
Listen to me, as half as I am
Talk to me, talk about me
to your loved ones, to your friends
Talk!
about my big eyes, my crazy dreams
And I, what I want, is lots of things
to tell you, to touch you
Yeah, that's it

.....Here, this is who I am
.....Here I stand, naked in front of you, yes
.....I am afraid
.....Here I stand, silent in the fuss

Look at me, look at least
to what's left of me
Look at me, before I hate myself
What can I tell you that
no one else would tell you?
Just a few things, but
it's me, who I am, I offer you all
I have, here you go

.....Here, this is who I am
.....as naked as I stand here
.....there is nothing more
.....This is my mouth, my cry
.....okay, this is me
.....Here, here, here I am I
.....my dreams, my desires
.....the way I expose myself, the way I smile
.....Here I stand, silent in the fuss

Don't leave, please, stay for a long time
even if it won't save me, no
but without you I don't know how
Love me like you love a friend
who is leaving forever
I want you to love me
because I don't know that well
how I should love my half me

.....Here, this is who I am
.....as naked as I stand here
.....there is nothing more
.....Here I stand in the fuss and in the storm
.....Please look at me
.....to my eyes and my hands
.....This is all I have to offer
.....my mouth, my cry
.....Here I am, here I am, here
.....here, here
.....here, here
Free translation of the song "Voilà" ("Here I am", 2021, Barbara Pravi)

For Maria Godschalk #154

Collection "Reaching out"
778 · Apr 2023
[ So what are the facts ]
Zywa Apr 2023
So what are the facts?

Just unforgettable, are --


my reconstructions.
Novel "Ik ben er niet" ("I'm not there", 2020, Lize Spit), page 333

Collection "Shelter"
778 · Mar 2023
Picked up luck
Zywa Mar 2023
My perspective between the rusty leaves
is a dream house on the edge of the forest
picked up on the way, in the fall

Rich colours in the sun caress
the wooden skin flakes
of Mother Earth

and I am passing by
just a moment
a guest
For Jan Keijzer, after a picture he made

Collection "Ifless"
777 · Jul 2023
[ The audience isn't ]
Zywa Jul 2023
The audience isn't

listening to the concert --


It's background music.
Collection "The drama"
776 · Nov 2022
[ As a priest one serves ]
Zywa Nov 2022
As a priest one serves

in the churches in the hell --


of confessionals.
"Het volgende verhaal" ("The next story", 1991, Cees Nooteboom)

Collection "Low gear"
776 · Jun 2023
Dear bodyhome [3]
Zywa Jun 2023
The long way back
to my skin's old threshold
limits, replacing the alarm
with a notification
without crisis consultation

and more
than the sensation
of smells and tastes
and more
than the satisfaction
of strength and fatigue

and more
than laughing muscles to feel
there is contact
in between thinking
Placing a lot at a distance
to have space close by

to be balanced
and to love myself
to accept touches
uninhibited, not creeping
like the scent of wisteria
For Maria Godschalk

Collection "Bruises"
774 · May 2023
[ Everything goes slow ]
Zywa May 2023
Everything goes slow,

his walking, his answering --


Always three dots first...
Novel "Ik ben er niet" ("I'm not there", 2020, Lize Spit), page 347-348

Collection "Shelter"
772 · Jan 2022
[ I want to kiss her ]
Zywa Jan 2022
I want to kiss her,

but not wake her up, because --


then she'll start talking.
'Außer sich' ('Beside Myself', 2017, Sasha Marianna Salzmann)

Collection 'Ya, a tightrope walk'
772 · Sep 2022
[ Prosperity fat ]
Zywa Sep 2022
Prosperity fat

cannot escape gravity --


it sags to the grave.
"Grand Hotel Europa" (2018, Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer)

Collection "Palace of the Night"
769 · Dec 2023
[ The corner café ]
Zywa Dec 2023
The corner café

must close, because times have changed --


There is a new law.
Song "Adieu café" ("Goodbye café", 1969, Willem Wilmink, sung by Herman van Veen)

Collection "Over"
768 · Jun 2022
[ Away with the vice ]
Zywa Jun 2022
Away with the vice

squad-patriarchy: I am --


Boss Of My Belly!
Action supporting abortion, by Dolle Mina ("Mad Mina") on March 14th, 1970, with the slogan "Baas in eigen buik" ("Boss of your own belly")

Collection "Mastress"
765 · Feb 2022
[ The nights are silent ]
Zywa Feb 2022
The nights are silent,

the ferries out of service --


everyone in bed.
Collection "WoofWoof"
765 · Jan 2023
[ The white butterfly ]
Zywa Jan 2023
The white butterfly

moves, to save it, I quickly --


put out the candle.
"Frammento di cronaca di Marco Leccio e della sua guerra sulla carta nel tempo della grande guerra europea" - VIII ("Fragment of a chronicle of Marco Leccio and his war on the map in the time of the Great War in Europe" – VIII, 1919, Luigi Pirandello)

Collection "Love Mind and Death"
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