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Zywa May 7
For sale on the fair:

brain transplants to your liking --


Choose your memories.
Story "De achtbaan" ("The roller-coaster", 1953, Belcampo)

Collection "Being my own museum"
May 7 · 76
[ I go out and look ]
Zywa May 7
I go out and look

around my house as if it --


has to be cleared out.
Diary "De dood heeft mij een aanzoek gedaan - Over dood, leven en liefde" ("Death made me a proposal - About death, life, and love", 2010, Kristien Hemmerechts)

Collection "Being my own museum"
May 6 · 200
[ At the junk dealer ]
Zywa May 6
At the junk dealer

I write, of course, life stories --


of the furniture.
Novel "Buiten is het maandag" ("Outside, it's Monday", 2003, J. Bernlef), chapter 2-2

Collection "Being my own museum"
Zywa May 6
A waste bag bulging

with plastic is cut open:


the seagull's stomach.
Poem "Skip Fûgel Lân" ("Ship Bird Land", 2019, Eeltsje Hettinga)

Collection "Being my own museum"
May 5 · 231
[ I wrap myself up ]
Zywa May 5
I wrap myself up

in my poem, to show me --


show my open wounds.
Poem "Schizophrenia" (2016, Ghayath Almadhoun)

Collection "Being my own museum"
Zywa May 5
Home is: where you live.

We are not from a country --


but from our childhood.
"On n'est pas d'un pays, on est de son enfance" ("We are not from a country, we are from our childhood", René Frégni, 2016, in the poetic short story collection "Je me souviens de tous vos rêves" ["I remember all your dreams"])

Film "Interdit aux chiens et aux Italiens" ("No Dogs or Italians Allowed", 2022, Alain Ughetto)

Collection "Being my own museum"
Zywa May 4
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"
Zywa May 4
Headwind slows me down

more than I accelerate --


with that wind behind.
"verstandelijk gezichtsbedrog" ("mental delusion", 1959, Jan Hanlo), in magazine Rabarber #16

Collection "Rasping ants"
Zywa May 3
Orange light at night,

the whole wide country whirring:


the gas field is on.
"60.000 uur - een autobiografie" ("60,000 hours - an autobiography", 1998, Gerrit Krol)

Collection "Rasping ants"
Zywa May 3
The country: flare stacks,

from Loppersum to Tjuchem’s --


burning gates of hell.
Province of Groningen, the Netherlands

"60.000 uur - een autobiografie" ("60,000 hours - an autobiography", 1998, Gerrit Krol)

Collection "Rasping ants"
May 2 · 154
[ I am so in love ]
Zywa May 2
I am so in love

that I must confess to her:


I don't write poems.
Story "Dichtertje" ("Little poet", 1918, Nescio), written in 1917, chapter 2

Collection "Rasping ants"
May 2 · 53
[ I cannot help it ]
Zywa May 2
I cannot help it.

I hev limitid leeway.


I must bee handy.
Poem "Maraton" (1990, Cor Vaandrager)

Collection "Rasping ants"
Zywa May 1
God greatly desires

peace, man gives him more and more --


to ponder about.
Story "Dichtertje" ("Little poet", 1918, Nescio), written in 1917, chapter 1

Collection "Rasping ants"
May 1 · 255
[ The devil glances ]
Zywa May 1
The devil glances

at the clock, eternity --


isn't coming along.
Story "Dichtertje" ("Little poet", 1918, Nescio), written in 1917, chapter 1

Collection "Rasping ants"
Zywa Apr 30
On her bed she thinks

of budding love, so often --


you read about it.
Story "Dichtertje" ("Little poet", 1918, Nescio), written in 1917, chapter 6

Collection "Rasping ants"
Zywa Apr 30
He looks at the clock

and tells her something briefly --


A married couple.
Story "Dichtertje" ("Little poet", 1918, Nescio), written in 1917, chapter 3

Collection "Rasping ants"
Zywa Apr 29
I'm at home, content,

the tea-kettle is singing --


the rain is tapping.
Story "De uitvreter" ("The scrounger", 1911, Nescio), chapter 4

Collection "Rasping ants"
Apr 29 · 63
[ Swerving to avoid ]
Zywa Apr 29
Swerving to avoid

a puddle, I almost step --


into another.
Story "Dichtertje" ("Little poet", 1918, Nescio), written in 1917, chapter 11

Collection "Rasping ants"
Zywa Apr 28
Croaking frogs at night,

a horse running back and forth --


but you can't see it.
Story "Titaantjes" ("Teen Titans", 1915, Nescio), chapter 1

Collection "Rasping ants"
Zywa Apr 28
Those days! We stayed up

at night and went to the sea --


to see the sunrise!
Story "Titaantjes" ("Teen Titans", 1915, Nescio), chapter 1

Collection "Rasping ants"
Apr 27 · 532
[ The sun is setting ]
Zywa Apr 27
The sun is setting,

from the water there's darkness --


rising everywhere.
Story "Titaantjes" ("Teen Titans", 1915, Nescio), chapter 7

Collection "Rasping ants"
Apr 27 · 104
[ The landscape forces ]
Zywa Apr 27
The landscape forces

me to put it on canvas --


and then it won't work.
Story "Titaantjes" ("Teen Titans", 1915, Nescio), chapter 13

Collection "Rasping ants"
Zywa Apr 26
Boys we were, nice boys,

gazing at the paving stones --


gazing at the stars.
Story "Titaantjes" ("Teen Titans", 1915, Nescio), chapter 1

Collection "Rasping ants"
Zywa Apr 26
We were Teen Titans,

the five of us, we were going --


to change everything.
Story "Titaantjes" ("Teen Titans", 1915, Nescio), chapter 1

Collection "Rasping ants"
Apr 25 · 85
[ Any overworld ]
Zywa Apr 25
Any overworld

is a palimpsest over --


a scraped underworld.
Novel "The Moor's Last Sigh" (1995, Salman Rushdie), chapters Spices from Malabar, (2-) 11 and The Moor's Last Sigh, (4-) 19

Collection "Low gear"
Zywa Apr 25
The birches are called

silvery white, yeah, language --


can be very poor.
Story "Dichtertje" ("Little poet", 1918, Nescio), written in 1917, chapter 10

Collection "Rasping ants"
Apr 24 · 185
[ Time is fluid, here ]
Zywa Apr 24
Time is fluid, here

on the plane, we are floating --


in moments of now.
Novel "The Moor's Last Sigh" (1995, Salman Rushdie), chapter (4-) 19

Collection "Low gear"
Apr 24 · 59
[ We were citizens ]
Zywa Apr 24
We were citizens,

and suddenly our faith has --


become suspicious.
Novel "The Moor's Last Sigh" (1995, Salman Rushdie), chapters (2-) 13 and (3-) 18

State of Emergency in India 1975-1977, declared under Indira Gandhi; oppression of political opponents and non-Hindus

Collection "Low gear"
Zywa Apr 23
Tall bite tales wander

about and attach themselves --


to amputations.
Novel "The Moor's Last Sigh" (1995, Salman Rushdie), chapter (3-) 16

Collection "Low gear"
Apr 23 · 131
[ Mass of supporters ]
Zywa Apr 23
Mass of supporters

times corruption-degree squared --


makes a dynasty.
Novel "The Moor's Last Sigh" (1995, Salman Rushdie), chapter (2-) 15

Bharat's (India's) variation of E=mc2 (Energy = mass * lightspeed square) is: D=mc2 (Dynasty = mass-of-supporters * corruption square)

Collection "Low gear"
Zywa Apr 22
I don't have a hold,

with others, he never looks --


at me lovingly.
Novel "The Moor's Last Sigh" (1995, Salman Rushdie), chapter (4-) 20

Collection "Low gear"
Apr 22 · 126
[ Philosophy does ]
Zywa Apr 22
Philosophy does

not help you to become learned --


but to be virtuous.
Collection "Ta eis heauton" - 5:9 ("Things to one's self" / "Meditations", 161-180, Marcus Aurelius)

Collection "Known"
Apr 21 · 125
[ Now we have to talk ]
Zywa Apr 21
Now we have to talk,

of shoes, ships, piggy wings, and --


a nice appetite.
Having a good conversation with the oysters before you eat them

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

Collection "Here &Now&"
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&"
Apr 20 · 330
[ Teardrop diamonds ]
Zywa Apr 20
Teardrop diamonds,

frozen on my eyelashes:


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

Collection "Low gear"
Apr 20 · 158
[ I rule out myself ]
Zywa Apr 20
I rule out myself

when reading, so I can hear --


what is being said.
Philological study "The Text of the Epistles. A Disquisition upon the Corpus Paulinum" (2007, Günther Zuntz) - "Lesen heißt mit fremden Kopfe denken" ("Reading is thinking with other people's minds"), cited in the philological study "Geschreven en toegeschreven" ("Scribed and Ascribed", 2013, Charles Vergeer), § 7.A: "Lezen is zich verdiepen in een tekst. Luisteren naar de toon en de stem van de tekst zoals we luisteren naar muziek." ("Reading is going into a text. Listening to the tone and voice of the text like we listen to music")

Collection "Glimpsed"
Zywa Apr 19
We shout many views,

are seldom examining --


our very standpoints.
Poem "(work in progress) 'n meerstemmige teks: pogings om die wit staar aan myself te verduidelik - poging 3" ("(work in progress) a part-text: attempts to explain the white stare to myself - attempt 3", 2022, Antjie Krog)

Collection "Unseen"
Apr 19 · 55
[ Being bored deeply ]
Zywa Apr 19
Being bored deeply

is a vague experience --


of all that exists.
"Die Langeweile offenbare das Seiende im Ganzen" ("Boredom reveals entities in the whole"), in: "Was ist Metaphysik?" ("What is metaphysics?", 1929, Martin Heidegger)

Collection "Unseen"
Apr 18 · 122
[ A freethinker thinks]
Zywa Apr 18
A freethinker thinks

about questions, the answers --


he doesn't want to hear.
Novel "Een tevreden lach" ("A happy smile", 1965, Andreas Burnier), chapter "The train" --- Collection "Unseen"
Apr 18 · 103
[ The holiday guests]
Zywa Apr 18
The holiday guests

stay away, I imagine --


a quite poor reason.
Novel "Buiten is het maandag" ("Outside, it's Monday", 2003, J. Bernlef), part 1, chapter 10 --- Collection "Unseen"
Apr 17 · 401
[ The evening twilight ]
Zywa Apr 17
The evening twilight.

Tipping up, I see the white --


scuts of the rabbits.
Novel "Buiten is het maandag" ("Outside, it's Monday", 2003, J. Bernlef), part 6, chapter 2 --- Collection "SoulSenseSun"
Apr 17 · 39
[ A cow is a cow ]
Zywa Apr 17
A cow is a cow,

anywhere in the world she --


looks at you deeply.
Novel "Buiten is het maandag" ("Outside, it's Monday", 2003, J. Bernlef), part 5, chapter 1 --- Collection "SoulSenseSun"
Zywa Apr 16
God is like a sound,

He's everywhere, wherever --


there is space, He sounds.
"La Caravane de la Poésie" in 1999 - Tuareg poet Eraf Hawad speaks about the nomadic way of life --- Tale "A Change of tongue" (2003, Antjie Krog)

Collection "Held/True"
Apr 16 · 90
[ As if God sees us ]
Zywa Apr 16
As if God sees us

like the people on tv --


look blindly at us?
After the novella "Het theater, de brief en de waarheid" ("The theatre, the letter and the truth", 2000, Harry Mulisch), chapter 1

Collection "Held/True"
Apr 15 · 63
[ The minaret sticks ]
Zywa Apr 15
The minaret sticks

accusingly in our house --


its shadow finger.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 2-14 "Jamila Singer"

Collection "Low gear"
Zywa Apr 15
The flower necklace,

she throws it away, doesn't want --


to be manacled.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 2-5 "Love in Bombay"

Collection "Low gear"
Apr 14 · 436
[ Unfortunately ]
Zywa Apr 14
Unfortunately

none of my birthday guests know --


how to celebrate.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 2-6 "My tenth birthday"

Collection "Low gear"
Zywa Apr 14
The words she spits out

rip open everyone's skin --


like a vast, barbed net.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 2-6 "My tenth birthday"

Collection "Low gear"
Apr 13 · 197
[ Everything happens ]
Zywa Apr 13
Everything happens

to me, nonetheless I am --


the protagonist.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 2-9 "The Kolynos Kid"

Collection "Low gear"
Zywa Apr 13
I know I'm destined

for great deeds, however, first --


I've to finish school.
Novel "Midnight's Children" (1981, Salman Rushdie), chapter 2-8 "Alpha and Omega"

Collection "Low gear"
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