Zywa Islands

I do think of home
where I can't be for now
so I don't want to go back yet

On this small island
I sometimes miss the people
Just their presence
without having to
interact with them

There is plenty here:
walls of clouds
on the horizon, the black sea
coming towards me
with pounding waves

a howling wind
over frozen ground
rattling chains
in the harbour, flapping
ropes and flags

and the otter leaping
up to his slide in the snow
and shooting into the sea
without a ripple
Everything is so different

from a game island
on the internet
where nothing offers resistance

Poem 6033
Amsterdam, 2026-05-25
Winter (Karl Ove Knausgård) - 2015
Paragraphs "The Otter" and "The Social" (in Part 3, chapter 'February', of the autobiographical novel "Om vinteren" (translated in 2018)
Island Sandøya (west of Førde), where Karl Ove Knausgård stayed during the periods January-March 1999 and January-March 2002

Collection: Leaving
Tribute to: Knausgård, Karl Ove 
 

Zywa Baneling

I suffered a defeat
It wasn't the end
Someone helped me up
And I had to move on

Elsewhere I built a house
With a boundary around it
Within which I was safe
Until that changed

Once again, I crossed
the boundary I'd drawn, again
I drew a new one, a smaller one
Inside the house

Sometimes I go to the park
Then I feel less alone
and free for a moment, until the joy
of the people shuts me out

Poem 5776
Amsterdam, 2025-12-18
Three poems by Frida Vogels
October 17th, 1952 - Alone, alone, one is alone too much
August 30th, 1966
- A baneling
April 1st, 1969
- A defeat is not what was expected

Collection: Self-portraits
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida 
 

Again and again

the baneling draws the borders --


he desires to cross.


Telkens opnieuw trektImmer wieder zieht
de banneling de grenzen --der Verbannte die Grenzen --

die hij over wil.die er vorbei will.

Poem H5792
Amsterdam, 2025-08-06
A baneling (Frida Vogels) - 1994
Poem "Een banneling", published in the collection "De harde kern 3" ("The hard core 3", 1994, Frida Vogels, part VII [Acquiescence]), in "Diary 1966-1967" (2009), and in the autobiography "In den vreemde - Kronieken" ("In foreign parts - Chronicles", 2024, Frida Vogels), chapter 'Een vriendin in Rome' (A friend a Rome) - August 30th, 1966, Bologna
Collection: Self-portraits
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida 
 

You walk ahead of me,

even though you are not there.


I walk all alone.


Je loopt voor me uitDu gehst mir voraus,
al ben je er niet, ik loop --obwohl du nicht da bist, ich --

moederziel alleen.gehe ganz allein.

Poem S2830
Amsterdam, 2025-08-04
The horrors of that day (Frida Vogels) - 1994
Verse "De verschrikkingen van die dag", published in the collection "De harde kern 3" ("The hard core 3", part VI [Kees], and in "Diary 1966-1967" (2009) - January 11th, 1966, Bologna
Collection: Self-portraits
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida 
 

I lost you, it was

already getting dark and --


I was far from home.


Ik raakte jou kwijt,Es wurde dunkel,
en het ging al schemeren --ich war ohne dich und weit --

Ik was ver van huis.weg von zu Hause.

Poem S2816
Amsterdam, 2025-07-31
You who were always there when I looked for you (Frida Vogels) - 1994
Verse "Jij die als ik je zocht er altijd was", published in the collection "De harde kern 3" ("The hard core 3", part VII [Acquiescence]), and in "Diary 1964-1965" (2008) - May 6th, 1965, Bologna
Collection: Self-portraits
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida 
 

Within the ramparts,

without any food supplies --


with only the view.


Binnen de muren,Es gibt kein Essen
zonder eten, met alleen --innerhalb der Stadtmauern --

nog maar het uitzicht.nur noch die Aussicht.

Poem S2785
Amsterdam, 2025-07-21
The besieged city no one can approach (Frida Vogels) - 1994
Poem "De belegerde stad kan niemand benaderen", published in the collection "De harde kern 3" ("The hard core 3", part IV [Frida]), in "Diary 1958-1959" (2006), and in the autobiography "In den vreemde - Kronieken" ("In foreign parts - Chronicles", 2024), chapter 'Brief aan Ennio' (Letter to Ennio) - December 22nd, 1959, Milan
Collection: Beyond the Cape
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida 
 

Our relationship

endures, because it's Living --


Together Apart.


Onze relatieUnsre Beziehung
houdt stand, want het is Living --hält an, denn sie ist Living --

Together Apart.Together Apart.

Poem S2572
Amsterdam, 2025-02-21
Under the bushel (Maarten 't Hart) - 1991
Novel "Onder de korenmaat", chapter 25
In the Dutch movie "Frank and Eve" (1973, Pim de la Parra) the term LAT-relationship was used for a couple Living Apart Together

Collection: The Note Tree
Tribute to: T Hart, Maarten; De la Parra, Pim 
 

Hell would be better,

but no gate opens, because --


she's already there.


Ze wil naar de hel,Sie will zur Hölle,
maar er gaat geen poort open --doch es öffnet sich kein Tor --

want ze is er al.weil sie schon da ist.

Poem S2194
Amsterdam, 2024-05-18
Shalimar the Clown (Salman Rushdie) - 2005
Novel, chapter Shalimar the Clown, § 2
Collection: Sludge
Tribute to: Rushdie, Salman 
 

It is indolence

to build up tremendous walls --


without open doors.


Het is gemakzuchtEs ist nur Laschheit,
om muren op te richten --Wände zu bauen ohne --

zonder open deur.offene Türen.

Poem S1258
Amsterdam, 2021-10-10
Prisons / Immigration
Collection: The Praised One
 

Zywa While I lie awake

Without the outside world, my house
is everything, less and less a home
Short walks, for the rest
we stay inside
when we go out

with a video call
a nicely set table
a borrowed book, movies
always in the same chair
and a neighbour visiting

Lots of time together
but he has a hobby and I don't
come around to anything
It's boring, life
does not flow in me

In bed I share him
with silence and sleep
no radio, no talking
just his warmth next to me
while I lie awake

Poem 3415
Amsterdam, 2021-01-29
Lockdown
Collection: More
Dedicated to: Dory dK 
 

We hear the glass skin

that separates us, ringing. --


Another outbreak.


Je hoort de glashuidMan hört die Glashaut
die ons scheidt vaak rinkelen. --die uns trennt, immer klirren. --

Weer een uitbraak.Ausbruch nach Ausbruch.

Poem S1114
Amsterdam, 2020-12-22
Social distancing (Covid-19)
Collection: Changing Times
 

Inside it's busy,

outside it's cold and muddy --


down into my shoes.


Binnen is het druk,Drinnen ist es voll,
buiten koud en modderig --draußen ist's kalt und schlammig --

tot in mijn schoenen.bis auf die Socken.

Poem S0472
Amsterdam, 2017-04-15
The Office - Mister Beerta (Han Voskuil) - 1996
Novel "Het Bureau - Meneer Beerta" - 1959
Collection: Dirty hands
Tribute to: Voskuil, Han 
 

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