Neither stingily

nor excessively, father --


sets off his fireworks.


Vader is beter:Weder geizig noch
gierig noch overdadig --übermäßig zünden wir --

steekt hij vuurwerk af.Feuerwerkskörper.

Poem H6280
Amsterdam, 2026-05-24
Winter (Karl Ove Knausgård) - 2015
Autobiographical novel "Om vinteren", part 1, chapter 'December', § 'Fireworks' – New Year's Eve 1972-1980, Tromøya
The social golden mean

Collection: Leaving
Tribute to: Knausgård, Karl Ove 
 

If you want a lot

you'll be buried under it --


Are you such a fool?


Als je alles wilt,Wenn du alles willst,
zul je bedolven raken --wirst du darin ertrinken --

Ben jij zo'n sukkel?Na, bist du so blöd?

Poem H5186
Amsterdam, 2025-01-20
The Saint of the Impossible (Arnon Grunberg) - 1998
Novella "De heilige Antonio", chapter 15
Collection: Willegos
Tribute to: Grunberg, Arnon 
 

Keep to the balance:

forgiving and forgiven --


are reciprocal.


Het is een balans:Klares Gleichgewicht:
vergeven en vergeven --Vergeben und Vergeben --

worden gaan samen.werden.. gehen gleich.

Poem H5161
Amsterdam, 2025-01-14
a word child (Iris Murdoch) - 1975
Novel, chapter Thursday [5]
Collection: Longing and Loss
Tribute to: Murdoch, Iris 
 

I would like to be

an ascetic and also --


enjoy grapes and wine.


Ik wil een asceetEin Asket möchte
zijn én volop genieten --ich sein, únd Trauben und Wein --

van druiven en wijn.reichlich genießen.

Poem H4925
De Koog, 2024-09-21
Requiem for a friend (Han Voskuil) - 2002
Novel "Requiem voor een vriend", chapter 1956-1958, September 28th, 1957 - The Hague, letter from Jan Bruggeman ('Breugelman')
Collection: Dirty hands
Tribute to: Voskuil, Han 
 

Zywa Bi

Open and closed doors
windows shutters castles wards shops towns roads
borders. Follow your path
if you can, where possible

Open and closed gardens
skies valves taps sewers sluices vaults coffins
graves. Look and smell
where you are, where you're going

Open and closed monasteries
societies visors letters flowers looks lips eyes
ears. Listen and be blind
to what you don't need to see

Open and closed books
credits lines veins wounds chakras minds questions arms
hearts. Speak and keep silent
about what doesn't need to be said

Open and non-open
water fire kitchens pans curtain endings conversations
relationships. Be caring
for others and yourself

Poem 5464
Amsterdam, 2024-03-18
Collection: Untwisted
 

Between star and night,

between black skin and white skin --


our fire is burning.


Tussen ster en nacht,Zwischen Stern und Nacht,
zwarte huid en witte huid --schwarze Haut und weiße Haut --

branden wij een vuur.brennt unser Feuer.

Poem H4459
Amsterdam, 2024-01-24
Fire is Burning (Alice Eather) - 2015
Poem "Yúya Karrabúra"
Collection: SoulSenseSun
Tribute to: Eather, Alice 
 

Lasting love: to be

one another's property --


and not to be so.


Van elkaar houdenEinander lieben:
is: elkaars bezit te zijn --gegenseitiges Besitz --

en dat niet te zijn.sein und auch nicht sein.

Poem H4154
Amsterdam, 2023-09-15
The GP and the light girl (Simon Vestdijk) - 1952
The golden mean
Novel "De dokter en het lichte meisje", chapter "Pimp in moderation"

Collection: Inmost [2]
Tribute to: Vestdijk, Simon 
 

Loving each other:

not too close and not too far --


The correct distance.


Van elkaar houden:Einander lieben:
niet te dichtbij, niet te ver --nicht zu nah und nicht zu weit --

De juiste afstand.Richtiger Abstand.

Poem H4155
Amsterdam, 2023-09-15
The GP and the light girl (Simon Vestdijk) - 1952
The golden mean
Novel "De dokter en het lichte meisje", chapter "Pimp in moderation"

Collection: Inmost [2]
Tribute to: Vestdijk, Simon 
 

From Venus and Mars?

Well, in between lies the child --


as the golden mean.


Van Venus en Mars?Von Venus und Mars?
Ertussenin ligt het kind --Dazwischen liegt das Kind, als --

als gulden midden.goldene Mitte.

Poem H4157
Amsterdam, 2023-09-15
The GP and the light girl (Simon Vestdijk) - 1952
The golden mean
Novel "De dokter en het lichte meisje", chapter "The new mean"

Collection: Inmost [2]
Tribute to: Vestdijk, Simon 
 

The sand wants to be

here, or on the other side --


not in the middle.


Het zand wil hier zijn,Der Sand: hier, oder
of aan de andere kant --auf der anderen Seite --

niet in het midden.nicht in der Mitte.

Poem S1747
Amsterdam, 2023-04-27
I'm not there (Lize Spit) - 2020
The hourglass as a symbol for bipolarity
Novel "Ik ben er niet", page 331

Collection: Shelter
Tribute to: Spit, Lize 
 

Faces in stainless steel,

not fleeting and not turbid --


just noble people.


Gezichten in staal,Gesichter in Stahl,
niet vluchtig en niet troebel --nicht flüchtig und nicht getrübt --

Edele mensen.Rein edle Menschen.

Poem H3019
Amsterdam, 2021-08-18
100 Heads (Marc Quinn) - 2020
Art work, stainless steel
Collection: I am
Tribute to: Quinn, Marc 
 

Zywa Ideal-real

Sometimes I dream of a new start
a new world, the earth
without human vices

only divine births
of helpfulness and wisdom
so that those words become obsolete

finally no more auditions
of imaginary comedians
with endless filth

their bundling of centuries
of coercion, humiliation, and abuse
in the joke of The Aristocrats

A world without me
only plants, animals
and avatars as a kind

of people who walk the virtual reality
of the golden means
of Aristotle

Poem 3120
Amsterdam, 2020-07-13
Virtus = virtue
Virtual = ideal-real
"The Aristocrats": outdo each other with taboo-breaking jokes
• Avatara = descent = the incarnation of a deity descending to restore the cosmic order
• In the virtue ethics of Aristotle (384-322), virtue is the golden mean between two opposite possibilities

Collection: PumicePieces
Dedicated to: Godfrey N 
 

Scents so sweet and soft,

drifting through the stone city:


sidewalk gardens bloom.


Zoetzachte geurenDüfte so süß und
drijven door de stenen stad:sanft ziehen durch die Steinstadt:

stoeptuinen in bloei.Gehwege blühen.

Poem H2734
Amsterdam, 2020-06-17
Collection: WoofWoof
 

City on the hill,

in between heaven and earth --


a port by the sea.


Stad op de heuvel,Stadt auf dem Hügel,
tussen hemel en aarde --zwischen Himmel und Erde --

een haven aan zee.ein Hafen am Meer.

Poem H2312
Amsterdam, 2018-11-04
Collection: web tissue
 

Zywa Without filters: Blind

My eye-filters organise
fragments into the world
of which I am aware
My habitat

Without filters, I would
go blind from everything
go crazy from everything
Not survive

I organise you too
and if I had no filters
and more receptors
you would occupy me even more

That would paralyse me
it would blind me
and devour me, for
love knows no bounds

Poem 1375
Amsterdam, 2017-05-24
The golden mean
Collection: Local traffic
Tribute to: Aristoteles 
 

Zywa Seagulls and dolphins

At sea I am a dragon
with mighty wings
bulging with my breath
blazing with the sun

led by my one hand
at the helm, and the other
on the lines, tight enough
and loose enough

every moment again the wind
exactly in the middle
on the sweet spot:
two hearts connected

in the high waves
in the wild water
always in balance
like two playful dolphins

And when the seagulls land
on the deck at the rising of a storm
that confines me in rain curtains, I follow
its whims attentively and hold course

until a gap opens
between its black teeth
and I glide into the blue
the freedom between two skies

in which everything is clear
and I have a view
in all directions
from dawn to sunset

Poem 1108
Amsterdam, 2017-03-03
Collection: WoofWoof
 

My hammock hangs low

and far enough from heaven --


for human kindness.


Mijn hangmat hangt laag,Die Hängematte
ver genoeg van de hemel --tief, weit genug vom Himmel --

voor menselijkheid.für Mitmenschlichkeit.

Poem H1644
Amsterdam, 2017-01-04
Sunday (Remco Campert) - 1959
Poem "Zondag" (collection "Bij hoog en bij laag")
Collection: Here &Now&
Tribute to: Campert, Remco 
 

The air mooes and pounds

on itself, it falls and hunts --


for equality.


De lucht boe't en bonktDie Luft muht und haut
op zichzelf, ze valt en jaagt --auf sich selbst, sie fällt und jagt --

steeds gelijkheid na.immer nach Gleichheit.

Poem S0257
Amsterdam, 2014-11-19
Atmospheric pressure differences
Collection: Migration
 

A flight of wild geese:

light on the wings turns over --


into deep darkness.


Vlucht wilde ganzen:Flug wilder Gänse:
licht op de vleugels slaat om --Licht auf den Flügeln schlägt um --

in diepdonkerte.in Tiefdunkelheit.

Poem H0748
Amsterdam, 2014-02-13
The attic window (Ida Gerhardt) - 1945
Poem "Het zoldervenster" (collection "Het veerhuis")
Collection: Appearances
Tribute to: Gerhardt, Ida 
 

Outside the window

I saw darkness, with the sun --


reflected in it.


Ik zag duisternisIch sah Finsternis
buiten het raam, en de zon --im Fenster, und die Sonne --

erin weerspiegeld.sich darin spiegeln.

Poem H0279
Train Tilburg-Amsterdam, 2012-05-19
Collection: Webgarden
 

On both banks I am

at home, yet I rather sail --


freely in between.


Op beide oeversDaheim an beiden
ben ik thuis, maar liefst vaar ik --Ufern, fahre ich jedoch --

er vrij tussenin.ganz frei dazwischen.

Poem H0254
Amsterdam, 2012-04-06
Collection: Pending rain
 

Hanged persons
are in balance
Hanged persons
I too am in balance with my environment

I distinguish what is stable and what is unstable:
I am grounded in reality
I don't fool myself
I see what is wobbly
 

Zywa
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