Zywa In bed

I lie in bed all morning
with feverish thoughts
The sheets are soft
and smell of soap

I don't know what to think of life
I don't know what is best for me
I'm tossing and turning all morning

dreaming of love
and sighing all the time
wondering if my heart is really so sure
that I won't end up to be disappointed

Poem 5718
Amsterdam, 2025-11-23
Between two sheets (Antoinette Des Houlières)
1694   Des Houlières, Antoinette
Poem "Entre deux draps"
Keyword: Reason: and feelings 
 

Zywa The man I love

The man I love doesn't want me
The man who wants me, I don't love
I seek the man who rejects my love
I reject the man who seeks my love

I'm fond of the man in whom I find a diamond
I am a diamond to him who is fond of me
The man who makes me suffer, I wish happiness
The man who wants to see me happy, I make suffer

If I give in to him, I'll keep longing
if I beg the other one, I'll wrong myself
so I'll only be half happy anyway

Therefore the best choice is the man
who adores me and sees himself - as my property
not the man who sees me - as a trophy

Poem 5726
Amsterdam, 2025-11-30
Sonnet 5 - The man I love doesn't want me (Sor [sister] Juana Inés de la Cruz de Asabaje y Ramírez)
1695   De la Cruz dAyR, J.I.
Poem "Al que ingrato me deja, busco amante"
Juana Inés de la Cruz de Asabaje y Ramírez lived as a nun in Mexico(1648-1695)
Keyword: Reason: and feelings 
 

Zywa The Notre-Dame of Paris

Notre-Dame, she is quite old: although she may
bury Paris, which has witnessed her birth, one day
But in thousand years or more, Time will make recoil
her heavy body, like a wolf does with a bull
and twist each iron axon, each of her neurones
to gnaw alas, with its blunt tooth, her bones of stones!

Many men will overflow the island in the Seine
to contemplate the barren ruin, the last remains
dreamers, re-reading what Victor Hugo has seen ahead:
- Then they'll think they see the old basilica
as it was, mighty and magnificent, a Gloria
rising up before them like the shadow of a dead!

Poem 5261
Amsterdam, 2023-07-20
The Notre-Dame of Paris (Gérard de Nerval)
1832   De Nerval, Gerard
Poem "Notre-Dame de Paris" (collection "Odelettes", 1834/1853)
Novel "Notre-Dame de Paris" (1831, Victor Hugo)
Translation contest "The Netherlands translates"
Keywords: Culture: heritage, Paris 
 

Zywa An avenue in the palace garden

A girl passed by, the sound I heard
was fast and flashy like a bird's
A shining flower in her hair
a new song dancing in the air

Perhaps her very heart could twine
on me and then unite with mine
And coming in my depths of night
her glance would put me in the light!

But too outdated is my head...
Farewell, sweet ray that shines on me
your perfume, youth, the harmony...
This happiness had to pass. It fled!

Poem 5265
Amsterdam, 2023-07-21
An avenue in Luxembourg Park (Gérard de Nerval)
1832   De Nerval, Gerard
Poem "Une allée au Luxembourg" (collection "Odelettes", 1834/1853)
Keywords: Melancholy (acquiescence), Paris 
 

Zywa Tooters and trowels

The entire market is packed
with a fairground full of fun
Everything sounds and swings
and in the enchanting sea of lights
we stroll along with the animals

the carriages of white swans
the swift horses, their wild manes
and the elephant, who elegantly
lifts a leg and counts the rounds
with a blast on his trunket

The merriness of trimmings
jingles and bells playing in time
with the masons, the trowelers
who stand atop a scaffolding
striking the bricks with sparks

Poem 5722
Amsterdam, 2025-11-26
Cheerfulness (Georg Heym)
1912   Heym, Georg
Poem "Fröhlichkeit"
Keywords: Music: dance, rhythm, Playing: fun 
 

Zywa Chinese song in Europe

The girl with the fan
goes up the bridge
the water reflects
her slender image

The gentlemen peer
casually ahead -
to the girl with the fan
who wants to be wed

The girl with the fan
is silently beckoning
the ruffles rustle
what she is thinking

The gentlemen stare
as they portly squire
their fair-haired wives
in fancy attire

The crickets chirping
their love songs westwards

(The girl is hopping
  there to the pastures)

The crickets chirping
amidst the flowers

(The gentlemen are
  still walking northwards)

Poem 5267
Amsterdam, 2023-07-21
Chinese song in Europe (Federico García Lorca)
1921   García Lorca, Federico
Poem "Canción china en Europa", a mi ahijada Isabel Clara (to my god-daughter Isabel Clara, collection "Canciones")
Translation contest "The Netherlands translates"
Keywords: Desire (craving, lust), Paris 
 

Zywa Berlin Lights

For walking in the neighbourhood
a little bit of sun will do
but for Berlin that is not good
enough to get a detailed view
It's vast, it's quite an area there
a capital beyond compare
To show it well you will need lots
of lamps with lots and lots of watts
Well, tell me, tell me
what is there to see?

Turn on the lights
present us these delights
Turn on the lights
we close our mouths and open our eyes
Turn on the lights
to let us take the sights
what of it is: Berlin Lights

Poem 5258
Amsterdam, 2023-07-19
Berlin Lights (Bertolt Brecht)
1928   Brecht, Bertolt
Song "Berlin im Licht", for the exhibition of the same name in October 1928)
Translation contest "The Netherlands translates"
Keywords: City (crowded), Berlin 
 

Zywa A sad song

She sang the saddest songs
heartbreaking beautifully, and I
played with her
in the band, on the way
her hand lay in mine

I was happy, free everywhere
and with her, ah, for a short time
she left and she did not return
Now I just sing
sad songs about her

We were free, everything
was everywhere, and nothing
to lose, because we were
together, and still
I love her

Poem 6021
Amsterdam, 2026-05-09
Me and Bobby McGee (Kris Kristofferson)
1969   Kristofferson, Kris, Joplin, Janis
Song, sung by Roger Miller (1969, album "Roger Miller" [1969]), and Janis Joplin (1971, album "Pearl")
Keyword: Love: heartbreak, lovesickness 
 

Zywa Along the railroad-track

Let's run away, not run to death
And scare the wolves with all our breath:
Heyy hoo Captain Jack!
Meet me at the railroad-track!
Your left, your left!
Your left, right, left!

Let's march and move along the track
To save us from that ruthless pack
So shout it out in a duet:
We're almost home now!
We're almost home now!
But not quite yet so yet!

You can leave, you can stay, if you're sneezing off the hay
You can leave, you can stay, make a choice without delay

You can leave, you can stay, we'll come help you straight-away
You can leave, you can stay, if you don't forget to pay

You can leave, you can stay, otherwise you'll be our prey
You can leave, you can stay, but you cannot get away

You can leave, you can stay, so we cry, we laugh, and play
You can leave, you can stay, it's a kind of cabaret

You can leave, you can stay, one can do a lot with clay
You can leave, you can stay, what about your over-weigh?

You can leave, you can stay, you may dance the pounds away
You can leave, you can stay, better eat an apple a day

You can leave, you can stay, even if you're old and grey
You can leave, you can stay, grandpa seems to look okay

You can leave, you can stay, life is not a holiday
You can leave, you can stay, yet we shout hooray hooray

Poem 5796
Amsterdam, 2025-12-24
Dodenrit (Drs. P)
1974   Drs. P
Song "Dodenrit" (album "Over land en zee met Drs. P")
Keyword: Journey: together 
 

Zywa Liberation

What is true? I am truly
the man I see in the mirror
with my eyes wide open, devoid

of pitifulness
and, no matter what happens
I am free now, Mama

more beautiful than the man
you wanted to see, the one I was
because everything seemed easier then

but I am no longer that
jester, I'm starting over
with or without you

You don't have to cry
I no longer wish
I had never been born

I am free now, Mama
I am not in hell
I dedicate my life

to how I was made
no matter how difficult that is
no matter how things turn out

Poem 5799
Amsterdam, 2025-12-31
Bohemian Rhapsody (Freddie Mercury, Queen)
1975   Mercury, Freddie, Queen
Song (album "A Night at the Opera")
Keywords: Self-expression (oppressed), Freedom: liberation 
 

Zywa Just so you know

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

Poem 5387
Amsterdam, 2023-11-20
What God wants (Roger Waters)
1992   Waters, Roger
Song (album "Amused to Death")
Keyword: Religion: God(s) 
 

Zywa Little black angel

There's a little black angel
stuck in the liquor residue
at the bottom of my glass

I like to drink, a glass
is nice company, just
like family, Family

That little black angel is me
It's my good self, my love
stuck at the bottom

of your promises
that you couldn't keep
That rookie mistake

Promises you break
will break you
I know all about it

with the self-invented consolation
that a fallen angel
is still an angel

Poem 5303
Amsterdam, 2023-09-22
Bug Like an Angel (Mitski)
2023   Mitski (Miyawaki, Mitski)
Song (album "The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We")
Keyword: Will: good will 
 

Zywa The Bison

Mosquitoes may drink my blood
I stay here to enjoy myself
the blood of the moon

the fireflies in the garden
and the whooping children
around a campfire somewhere

Behind, a freight train rumbles past
Once the hooves of bison pounded there

My dreams are blind and nameless
They shit on the spot
and eat when I'm away

Maybe it would be easier
without them, but when I see them
asleep, everything is fine

Behind, a freight train rumbles past
Once the hooves of bison pounded there

Poem 5304
Amsterdam, 2023-09-23
Buffalo Replaced (Mitski)
2023   Mitski (Miyawaki, Mitski)
Song (album "The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We")
Keywords: Change: process, Evening 
 

Zywa Heaven, Heaven

Our love fills the room
The basso continuo of your voice
conforms and mixes
with the song of the string
that you strike within me
resounding into heaven
heaven, heaven

I bend my branches
with you, I ripple thoughts
of you all over you
I drink the rest from your cup
pressing my lips where yours
still kiss me, in heaven
heaven, heaven

Outside the storm dances
something free, it runs away
around the corner, into the night
which we make wait
while we stay here
in the light of heaven
heaven, heaven

Poem 5305
Amsterdam, 2023-09-24
Heaven (Mitski)
2023   Mitski (Miyawaki, Mitski)
Song (album "The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We")
Keywords: Love: intimacy (physical), In love: dreamy 
 

Zywa Other thoughts

I want other thoughts
I don't like to be alone
with those opinions
about what I do

So I turn up the music
and I work hard, with a cake
on holidays, a whole cake
all for me

And then I feel sick
and I have to throw up
Another memory
that I won't lose

It's quietly waiting for doubts
and then it stands in line
with all my thoughts
about what I have done

Not a party, not a cake
not a whole cake for me
just my work, so
don't take that away from me

Poem 5306
Amsterdam, 2023-09-24
I Don't Like My Mind (Mitski)
2023   Mitski (Miyawaki, Mitski)
Song (album "The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We")
Keyword: Life: course (on the way) 
 

Zywa The swap

In the evening I like to walk
through the streets, looking
at the people in their houses
and then I wonder who
I would like to swap with

and what kind of swap that would be
What do I give and what do I get?
A soul for a soul, maybe
not to keep forever
but, who would want mine

with all its consequences?
Of course I don't get an answer
A bird on a street-lamp
is looking at me, it's night
so it doesn't sing

whether it's free or captive
it doesn't sing, because it's night
But we're not alone now
and I'd like to swap with it
Yes, I did

Poem 5307
Amsterdam, 2023-09-24
The Deal (Mitski)
2023   Mitski (Miyawaki, Mitski)
Song (album "The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We")
Keyword: Identity: change 
 

Zywa I want to tell

From year to year there are
memories snowing, covering
and blocking the driveway

I shovel them aside
I must get out, I must
do some shopping

And when they start to melt
when they drip down
the drainpipe and run away

I lie awake in bed
listening and following
the rippling in the gutter

It makes me desperate
I want to leave, a break
to write it all down

to tell it
in the dark and be
answered, applauded

Poem 5308
Amsterdam, 2023-09-25
When Memories Snow (Mitski)
2023   Mitski (Miyawaki, Mitski)
Song (album "The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We")
Keyword: Memory: feelings 
 

Zywa I want to go to the moon

My tent has a hole
at the top, that's the moon
which always shines
Before me, after me

Moon, you have room, right?
Tell me, do you have a place
for my heart?
Then, I'll come

to you
when I die, I will
to let my love shine
together with you

One day I'll have to leave
everything behind
and none of it is mine
except my love
which is mine, all mine

for my loved one here on earth
That's why I hope
I can shine on him
with you later

Nothing is mine
except my love
which is mine
all mine
all mine

Poem 5309
Amsterdam, 2023-09-26
My Love Mine All Mine (Mitski)
2023   Mitski (Miyawaki, Mitski)
Song (album "The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We")
Keyword: Love: fidelity 
 

Zywa The Cold

The cold lies thick
over the world like dust
as if no one has been
there for a long time

and I have been
forgotten or overlooked
left behind as if I couldn't
be taken with them

No one with whom I can
share what I feel, the cold
since you've been gone, the cold
since I've been home alone

No one
to tell that
I have lost you
my dear darling

All alone
No one
who sees, who knows
that I miss you

Poem 5310
Amsterdam, 2023-09-27
The Frost (Mitski)
2023   Mitski (Miyawaki, Mitski)
Song (album "The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We")
Keyword: Alone: forsaken 
 

Zywa Sun, Clouds, Star

We went wild, so happy
with each other, so happy
to have found each other
to have found love
true love, for you and me

My love for you is still there
you can see it shining
wherever you are, let the sun
of your activities go down
and blow away the clouds of your worries
then you'll see it, see me
with you again

I lived with my friends
until I met you
and you turned out
to give me more than they do
and I want to give that to you too

My love for you is still there
you can see it shining
wherever you are, let the sun
of your activities go down
and blow away the clouds of your worries
then you'll see it, see me
with you again

Poem 5311
Amsterdam, 2023-09-28
Star (Mitski)
2023   Mitski (Miyawaki, Mitski)
Song (album "The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We")
Keyword: Love: fidelity 
 

Zywa At the gates

Are you an angel, am I a dog?
Are you from heaven and I from hell?
Or are you a dog, my dog?
And will we go to hell together?

Where are you taking me?
Where am I taking you?
Why do you want to love me?
What can I ever give you?

The more you love me
the more I have to
betray your love, tear it apart
like a dog at the gate

The more you believe in me, the more
I'll bite back until your love is dead
at the gates of heaven
or the gates of hell

Poem 5312
Amsterdam, 2023-09-29
I'm Your Man (Mitski)
2023   Mitski (Miyawaki, Mitski)
Song (album "The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We")
Keyword: Together: discord 
 

Zywa After you

At home, no clothes on
brushing my hair
putting on makeup
laughing in the mirror

Toasting myself:
I love me
after you

At home, no clothes on
the curtains open
free, free in sight
of the dark

In the night I am free
in the night I love me
after you

Let the streets see me
let the night see me
I'm not going to hide
after you

Everyone may see me
I love me
after you

Poem 5313
Amsterdam, 2023-09-30
I Love Me After You (Mitski)
2023   Mitski (Miyawaki, Mitski)
Song (album "The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We")
Keyword: Love: for yourself 
 
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