Am I beautiful?

Maybe. Nobody says so.


What would it feel like?


Niemand zegt het, maarBin ich schön? Vielleicht.
misschien ben ik wel mooi! Hoe --Niemand sagt es. Wie würde --

zou schoonheid voelen?es sich anfühlen?

Poem S3014
Amsterdam, 2025-11-27
The cockroach lived among the nettles (Toon Tellegen) - 2019
Short story "Tussen de brandnetels woonde de kakkerlak", published in the collections "De droom van het nijlpaard" (2019), and "Ze wisten er meer van" (2020)
Collection: Perhaps / Some day / Occasionally / Almost
Tribute to: Tellegen, Toon 
 

When I see my love

I feel as beautiful as --


I am in his eyes.


Wanneer ik hem zie,Wenn ich ihn sehe,
dan voel ik me net zo mooi --fühle ich mich genauso --

als dat hij mij ziet.schön, wer er mich sieht.

Poem H5651
Amsterdam, 2025-06-29
With a photo of Dory at home (Baron van Voorst tot Voorststraat, September 16th, 1984, Beek [Berg en Dal])

Dory

Collection: Perhaps / Some day / Occasionally / Almost
Dedicated to: Lotte W 
 

Sometimes she is so

beautiful I can't believe --


she is my sister.


Soms is ze zo mooiSie ist so schön, dass
dat ik niet kan geloven --ich nicht glauben kann, dass sie --

dat ze mijn zus is.meine Schwester ist.

Poem H5326
Amsterdam, 2025-03-17
A heart of stone (Renate Dorrestein) - 1998
Novel "Een hart van steen", part 1, chapter 'Frits's student days, autumn 1956 or 1957'
Collection: Lack
Tribute to: Dorrestein, Renate 
 

True beauty is much

greater than itself, it is --


indestructible.


Ware schoonheid isWahre Schönheit ist
groter dan zichzelf, ze is --größer als sie selbst, weil sie --

onvernietigbaar.unzerstörbar ist.

Poem H5045
Amsterdam, 2024-11-04
On 'God' and 'Good' (Iris Murdoch) - 1969
Philosophical study "On 'God' and 'Good' " (1992, Iris Murdoch), published in: The Anatomy of Knowledge (1969), and collected in: "The Sovereignty of Good" (1970)
Collection: Dreams of love
Tribute to: Murdoch, Iris 
 

Dad doesn't say who is

the most beautiful woman:


Your mother of course!


Vader antwoordt niet,Vater sagt nicht, wer
wie hij de mooiste vrouw vindt:für ihn die schönste Frau ist:

Mama natuurlijk!Klar, deine Mutter!

Poem H3853
Amsterdam, 2023-06-13
Child between four women (Simon Vestdijk) - 1972
Novel "Kind tussen vier vrouwen", written in 1933, § 6 (AD 1909)
Collection: Inmost [1]
Tribute to: Vestdijk, Simon 
 

It takes me a lot

of time to properly show --


my inner beauty.


Het kost een mens tijdEin Mensch braucht Zeit, um
om innerlijke schoonheid --seine innere Schönheit --

goed te laten zien.richtig zu zeigen.

Poem H3418
Amsterdam, 2022-08-16
Self-expression / No-makeup look
Collection: Changing Times
 

Zywa #Beauty [2]

I have no worries
no other than sex
and the question of what love is
How do I keep his attention?

I'm trying my best
to converse intelligently
and wittily, but
I don't lose the feeling

that our marriage is a play
In bed, he stares away from me
while caressing and making love
He doesn't see my loneliness

but makes the most of it
he keeps me safe in his arms
before he gets active, and then
puts me to sleep on his chest

on his heart, which beats so
quietly and intangibly for me
when it suits him
He doesn't see my beauty

Poem 3165
Amsterdam, 2020-09-12
Collection: Imprints Masks
 

Beauty: an angel

of terror who despises --


to sweep us away.


Schoonheid: een engelSchönheit: ein Engel
der verschrikking die versmaadt --des Schreckens, der uns verschmäht --

ons weg te vagen.und noch nicht zerstört.

Poem H2650
Amsterdam, 2019-12-26
The first elegy (Rainer Maria Rilke) - 1912
Poem "Die erste Elegie" (1912, collection "Duineser Elegien", 1922)
Collection: May the Might
Tribute to: Rilke, Rainer Maria 
 

Zywa You are

The cypresses stand tall
against the pale evening blue
far from here, heat is pressing
on the city where you live

thinking of all kind of things
maybe thinking of me
maybe of yourself
being reflected by me

Just because, precisely because
you don't know, you can't
know, I know
that you know, that
I see and know

who you are, shining
what I don't tell anyone
what I feel
and cry out in myself
You are, you shine, you!

Poem 1842
Amsterdam, 2018-09-22
Collection: Without reserve
 

My love does not need

to be the most beautiful --


she's extremely rare.


Mijn lief is gewoon,Sie ist ganz einfach,
ze hoeft niet het mooist te zijn --sie muss nicht die Schönste sein --

zo zeldzaam is zij.weil sie selten ist.

Poem H1082
Amsterdam, 2014-12-05
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun (William Shakespeare) - 1609
Sonnet
Collection: Love Mind and Death
Tribute to: Shakespeare, William 
 

You really stand out!

It's your shyness that makes you --


very beautiful.


Jij valt echt wel op!Du fällst wirklich auf!
Het is jouw verlegenheid --Es ist deine Schüchternheit --

die jou zo mooi maakt.die dich so schön macht.

Poem H0948
Amsterdam, 2014-05-29
Poem "Schittering" (collection "Winter roads")
Collection: Glimpsed
Tribute to: Bernlef, J. 
 

Tricoloured blisters

on the white museum walls --


Also: Do not touch!


Drie kleuren bladdersDrei Farben Blasen
op de museummuren --an den Museumswänden --

Ook: Niet aanraken!Auch: Nicht berühren!

Poem H0149
Amsterdam, 2012-01-16
Collection: The Yellow House Museum
 

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