Zywa The Tower

She was the princess who became queen
when she washed him with expensive ointment
on his birthday and thus consecrated him
as king together with the high priest

They entered the city, the rebels
among the pilgrims for the festival week
an entry for the royal couple
a coup that would fail

Of course, she was the first
to return to his grave
from which scared schemers
had removed his body

Of course, she was the first
to see him again in a vision
and the first to want to believe
that the kingdom was still near after all

Of course, she was the first
to proclaim this
the Good News
of hope that gives life

Poem 6096
Amsterdam, 2026-07-26
Princess Miriam's honorary name, 'Migdal' ('Tower'), in Greek Maria 'Magdal-ena', was no longer understood a few centuries later and was interpreted as an indication that she came from the place Migdal (Magdala)
The coronation of the Jewish king is a consecration, so that JHWH can be present in him. The consecration consists of an act of purification (anointing of the feet, in this case by Mary, the wife of the crown prince, both from the house of David), and the coronation (by the high priest, in this case Simeon).
To conceal the rebellion against Roman authority, the evangelists omit the corona-tion. According to John 01:01-03, this takes place on the 10th of Nisan (Sunday evening, April 2nd, 30 CE), which is the day of the entry into the Promised Land led by Joshua ('the salver in the name of JHWH', which is also the title of the crown prince, later composed to 'Jesus'), and the day the crown prince turns 34 (according to the Roman calendar, that birthday is a week later, on April 10th, 30 CE).
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Love Poem

Poems are the word
and in the word is light
the light of life
the life of love

and now that it is
getting dark, it shines
just as brightly again
as when we got married

as if spring suddenly returns
in the moment between the flash
and the thunderclap, a foal
throws up its legs

it is blossoming for us again
and we are immortal as lovers
With fireflies, the light
of our wedding returns to our lives

Poem 6048
Amsterdam, 2026-06-12
Of Asphodel - Coda (William Carlos Williams) - 1962
Poem (collection "Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems")
Collection: Froend
Tribute to: Williams, William Carlos 
 

We mourn for the king,

although he is still alive --


here at our table.


Rouw om de koning,Wir trauern um den
ook al leeft hij nog steeds, hier --König, obwohl er noch lebt --

aan onze tafel.an unserem Tisch.

Poem H6291
Amsterdam, 2026-05-26
Interview by Marisa Gubbels with Reverend Casper van Dorp about his short children's film "In de Wolken" ("In the Clouds"), in the NRC of May 26th, 2026
For example, King Arthur and Jesus, King of the Jews
Pentecost
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Melancholy [1]

Only the enthusiasts know
anything about it, the others walk
past it and damage it
They do not know what they are doing

In the evenings, they sometimes watch
a documentary about something
that no longer exists, but it does
not change their point of reference:

it is from before their time
there is no future in it
So they let the disappearance
happen stealthily, only

synthetically does something remain
of what once bloomed every year:
a scent, a poem
some photos and film

fragments

Poem 6006
Amsterdam, 2026-05-01
Collection: Greeting from before
 

Zywa Change projects

My work is not too much for me
On the contrary, it is not enough
result and even confirms
what should have changed

It is new bottles
for soured wine
It doesn't resolve any
problems, it reassures
the managers

And that is what I live off
That is what makes me unhappy
and the staff even more so

      after the walking meditation
      on the company's mission
      after writing haiku together
      singing keynotes
      and, if necessary, fire-

      walking
      to change fearlessly
      and to do that together
      even if the boss does not dare

Poem 6000
Amsterdam, 2026-04-28
Night Guide (Marjolijn van Heemstra) - 2025
Novel "Nachtgids", paragraph 2
Collection: Half The Work
Tribute to: Van Heemstra, Marjolijn 
 

Zywa The alleged sacrifice

If it really could have been his son
how could God have been so mad
as to have him tortured to death?
Even worse than the madness
of Abraham who sacrificed Isaac?

Apparently, it was required
by the priests and theologians
for part 2 of the story:
Christianity after Judaism

With the nonsensical twist
that The Giver Makes A Sacrifice
to the superstitious

who want to receive heaven
and bow their heads once a year

at the words 'Have mercy'

Poem 5985
Amsterdam, 2026-04-05
Air No. 47, "Erbarme dich" ("Have mercy"), from the St Matthew Passion (1727, text Picander [Christian Friedrich Henrici], music Johann Sebastian Bach, BWV 244)
The passage Genesis 22:11-15 (an angel restrains Abraham from slaughtering his son) was added later to whitewash the atrocity
Collection: Secrets & Believers
Composer: Bach, Johann Sebastian 
 

People believe in

names, thrones, dominions, rulers,


powers and forces.


Mensen gelovenDie Menschen glauben
in namen, tronen, heersers,an Namen, Throne, Herrscher,

machten en krachten.Mächte und Kräfte.

Poem S3076
Amsterdam, 2026-02-14
Collection: On living on [2]
 

Zywa The boat is full

Up to our waist, we sit on the top
of the mountain in the middle of the sea

in which our houses bubbling
and the livestock bleating
have disappeared, the birds
have landed tired and
have sunk soaked

My daughter holds her baby
out in front of her, his feet wet
She submerges him
It won't be long before we'll drown
We don't want to

swim around in despair
for a while longer

Noah has holed up himself
in his boat, he can't bear
to watch and he cannot
and will not save us, only
the memory of our fate
is on board, drifting with him

Poem 5883
Amsterdam, 2026-02-12
A Time for Everything (Karl Ove Knausgård) - 2004
Novel "En tid for alt" (translation 2009), end of the fourth chapter ('They buried him the next evening')
Collection: A Home
Tribute to: Knausgård, Karl Ove 
 

Zywa Department Head

With the new director
I choose the offensive
prepared to sacrifice

myself and, like Samson
let my enemies perish
with me

I haven't glossed over
the nonsense of our paperwork
nor praised ourselves

for the perseverance with which
we built the archive. It's precisely
we, who averse to prestige

we, the vulnerable, the
misfits, who can do it -
with healthy reluctance

Don't touch us
don't shave our hair:
the temple will collapse!

Poem 5853
Amsterdam, 2026-02-05
Interview
Jaap van Marle talks about his introduction to Han Voskuil (interview in Vrij Nederland, November 23rd, 1996)
Collection: Frustration
Tribute to: Voskuil, Han 
 

Zywa Also if there is no explanation

Is a fortieth birthday a divide
like this mountain ridge here

where the landscape is the same
left and right, but the rain flows
to other seas?

Past here, future there
and the understanding
that what follows will be less

beautiful than you once thought
though this doesn't cause the founding
of a Party Against Sorrow

It's enough to not appropriate
worries, to be as cautious as a snake
and to look honestly in the mirror

That way, even after Halfway Station
you'll remain upright, like a tumbler

Poem 5671
Amsterdam, 2025-10-05
Watershed (drainage divide)
The first of the four cardinal virtues is: Prudentia (Prudence) - Matthew 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves - The mirror is the symbol of self-knowledge, later also of the past and future
The other three cardinal virtues are: Iustitita (Righteousness), Fortitudo (Strength), and Temperantia (Temperance)
Collection: The Yellow House Museum
 

Humanity will

end. That's not a prediction --


It is happening.


Het einde van deDas Ende der Mensch-
mensheid is geen voorspelling --heit: keine Vorhersage,

Het gebeurt gewoon.es passiert einfach.

Poem H5961
Amsterdam, 2025-09-28
Interview with Midas Dekkers - 2025
Interview by Anne Dohmen, in the NRC of September 27th, 2025 - "I don't have to predict the end times, it will happen automatically" (long-term perspective)
Collection: Thinkles Lusionless
Tribute to: Dekkers, Midas 
 

Noah: a good man?

Since he was allowed to live --


despite Cain's genes?


Noach: een goed mens?Noach: ein guter
Omdat hij mocht leven on-Mensch? Weil er leben durfte --

danks Kaïn's genen?trotz Kains Genen?

Poem S2956
Schin op Geul, 2025-09-06
The Ark (Wanda Bommer) - 2020
Novel "De Ark", chapter (afterword) 'Leonoor Levie - Chronicle of a damned life (Novel), page 316
Grandchildren of Cain, the progenitor of mankind, began to call him Seth (Seth > Enos >> Jered > H > Metusalem > Lamech > Noach), and they drowned (Kaïn > Enoch >> Irad > M > Metushael >) Lamach in the flood
Collection: Known
Tribute to: Bommer, Wanda 
 

Look at the world: all

is in vain, if there is no --


blessing upon it.


Aanschouw de wereld:Schau dir die Welt an:
alles is vergeefs tenzij --alles ist umsonst, wenn kein --

er zegen op rust.Segen darauf liegt.

Poem S2949
Amsterdam, 2025-09-02
Unless the Lord (Antonio Vivaldi) - 1715
Psalm "Nisi Dominus" (for soloist and orchestra, RV 608)
Collection: Chance
Composer: Vivaldi, Antonio 
 

You always believed

in the heavenly trumpets --


so now I must blow!


Jij geloofde inDu hast geglaubt an
de hemelse bazuinen --die himmlischen Posaunen --

Ik moet wel blazen!Jetzt muss ich blasen!

Poem H5908
Amsterdam, 2025-08-30
You stare at me grimly, and I'm scared and recoil (Frida Vogels) - 1994
Poem "Grimmig staar je me aan, en ik schrik en deins terug", published in the collection "De harde kern 3" ("The hard core 3", part XI [Deceased]), and in "Diary 1974-1976" (2013) - August 22nd, 1974, Bologna
Collection: Overwritten
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida 
 

I'm a poet, I'm

fighting on a pinhead with --


who I want to be.


Ik ben een dichter,Als Dichterin kämpft
ik vecht op een speldenknop --sie auf Nadelkopf mit der --

met wie ik wil zijn.die sie sein möchte.

Poem S2930
Amsterdam, 2025-08-27
I am a poet after all (Frida Vogels) - 2012
Verse "Ik ben nu eenmaal een dichter", published in "Diary 1972-1973" - September 23rd, 1973, Bologna (The Bible: Jacob fights with the angel)
Collections: Overwritten, Whirligig Scribbler 
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida 
 

Just as I approach,

the bush blows off, denying --


me its protection.


Bij mijn naderingIch nähere mich,
waait de braamstruik weg, ontzegt --der Dornbusch weht weg, entsagt --

mij zijn beschutting.mir so seinen Schutz.

Poem S2900
Amsterdam, 2025-08-20
Here, in this thicket (Frida Vogels) - 1994
Poem "Hier, in dit kreupelbos, published in the collection "De harde kern 3" ("The hard core 3", part IX [Marriage]), and in "Diary 1970-1971" (2011) - July 18th, 1971, Bologna
Collection: Lookout
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida 
 

Blessings rest upon

the great king, the eternal --


flame burns night and day.


Er rust zegen opDer Segen ruht auf
de koning, de eeuwige --dem König, das ewige --

vlam brandt dag en nacht.Licht brennt Tag und Nacht.

Poem H5851
Amsterdam, 2025-08-19
The future of truth (Werner Herzog) - 2024
Book "Die Zukunft der Wahrheit", chapter Numa Pompilius (king from 716 to 673 BC)
The Vestal Virgins
Collection: Held True
Tribute to: Herzog, Werner 
 

Be rid of it for

good, letting it collapse with --


the last of your strength.


Er voorgoed vanafEs endgültig los-
zijn, het met je laatste kracht --werden, es mit letzter Kraft --

laten instorten.zum Einsturz bringen.

Poem S2875
Amsterdam, 2025-08-13
When one does not have the strength (Frida Vogels) - 1994
Verse "Wanneer men de kracht niet heeft", published in the collection "De harde kern 3" ("The hard core 3", part IX [Marriage]), and in "Diary 1968-1969" (2010) - October 13th, 1969, Bologna
Collection: Between us
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida 
 

Zywa Not in their image

Mother can continue to see me
as a daughter, but my brother
and my husband must want
to know me as I am

I need that
even if it's not true
because my fruitless striving
keeps me alive nonetheless

Walking and writing
in notebooks and letters
explanations of who I am

Book after book to refute
and to replace what they like
to think about me, to break
it down and nuance it

Word by word weighed
and considered and rejected
now for sale to strangers -
my kind, if they dare to be so

Poem 5656
Amsterdam, 2025-07-15
Frida Vogels
Autobiographical books by Frida Vogels, initially written for her brother and her husband
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them
Collection: Helices
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida 
 

The pit: a peephole

upwards. Not even any --


moss growing in it.


De put is alleenDiese Grube ist
maar een kijkgat naar boven --ein Guckloch nach oben. Da --

Er groeit zelfs geen mos.wächst nicht einmal Moos.

Poem S2771
Amsterdam, 2025-07-15
Joseph in the pit (Frida Vogels) - 1994
Verse "Jozef in de put", published in the collection "De harde kern 3" ("The hard core 3", part II [Paris]) - 1952-1953, Paris
Collection: ThereFrom
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida 
 

Tongues as of fire:

an ecstatic story of --


missionary zeal!


Vurige tongen:Zungen wie Feuer:
wat een extatisch verhaal --welch eine ekstatische --

van zendingsijver!Missionsgeschichte!

Poem S2707
Amsterdam, 2025-06-09
Pentecost story
Collection: Secrets & Believers
 

It is still the same:

Israel is deaf, allows --


its prophets too late.


Het gaat nog steeds zo:Es gilt immer noch:
Israël is doof, erkent --Israel ist taub, erkennt --

profeten te laat.Propheten zu spät.

Poem S2684
Amsterdam, 2025-05-31
Collection: Greeting from before
 

To be a guest of

heavyweights, on the highlands --


of milk and honey.


Bij zwaargewichtenBei Schwergewichten
te gast zijn, in het hoogland --zu Gast, auf dem Hochland, wo --

van melk en honing.Milch und Honig fließt.

Poem H5535
Amsterdam, 2025-05-30
With a photo of Dory on a path with Swiss cows (May 9th, 2010, Wirsweli) - 'Swiss' are brown cattle (10 times Dory's body weight)
Exodus 3:8 'to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites'
Numbers 14:7-8 'The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land, a land which floweth with milk and honey'

Dory
Collection: web tissue
Dedicated to: Lotte W, Madelief dK, Dory dK 
 

Biology and

religion teach that man is --


made of swelling clay.


Biologie enBiologie und
godsdienst leren dat de mens --Religion lehren, der Mensch --

uit zwelklei bestaat.besteht aus Quellton.

Poem H5461
Amsterdam, 2025-05-14
Swelling clay (Driek van Wissen) - 2004
Poem "Zwelklei"
Expansion clay / swelling clay can absorb a lot of water because it contains smectite
Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed [a] man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and [the] man became a living being
Collection: Held True
Tribute to: Van Wissen, Driek 
 

I am who I am,

I really can't help it, so --


take off your clothes now.


Ik ben die ik ben,Ich bin, wer ich bin,
ik kan niet anders, dus doe --ich kann nichts dafür, also --

nu je kleren uit.zieh dich einfach aus.

Poem S2612
Amsterdam, 2025-03-21
Loverman (Nick Cave) - 1994
Song, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, album "Let Love In"
Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses: I AM THAT I AM
Collection: Held True
Tribute to: Cave, Nick 
 

I pray, beg for help,

a little bit of divine --


power, to borrow.


Ik bid, smeek om hulp,Ich fleh um Hilfe,
een greintje goddelijke --um ein bisschen göttlicher --

kracht, even te leen.Kraft, kurz zu Lehen.

Poem H5252
Amsterdam, 2025-02-14
Psalm 3 (Kate Moore) - 2019
Composition, performed by the Herz Ensemble Singers in the Organpark on February 14th, 2025
Collection: org anp ARK 
Composer: Moore, Kate 
 

Seven times seven

times I wash my worries out --


of my troubled mind.


Zeven maal zevenSieben mal sieben-
keer was ik al mijn zorgen --mal wasche ich meine Not --

uit mijn gedachten.aus meinem Gemüt.

Poem H5253
Amsterdam, 2025-02-14
Have mercy (Kate Moore) - 2019
Composition "Miserere", Psalm 51, for violin, arranged for the Herz Ensemble, performed in the Organpark on February 14th, 2025 by Jellantsje de Vries (violin) and Elisabeth Smalt (viola) of the Herz Ensemble, and Geerten van de Wetering (organ)
Collection: org anp ARK 
Composer: Moore, Kate 
 

Zywa The eighth day

And the evening and the morning
were the eighth day, the people
plaited roofs, they mated

and the men said: pure
are our homes and all
that we need

but God is the Creator
of life and death, everyone who
touches those becomes impure

and must humbly wash
off the germs of his pride
his fertility

is a given
or refused grace
he must remove

the smell and the traces
of her bleeding and his seed
so as not to perish from impotence

Poem 5598
Amsterdam, 2025-02-02
February 2nd, Candlemass / Festum purgativum (Feast of the Purification), the presentation of Jesus at the temple
Collection: Secrets & Believers
Dedicated to: Hans B 
 

Like a fiery tongue

my soul licks itself upwards --


away from the heat.


Als een vurigeWie Feuerzungen
tong likt mijn ziel zich omhoog --leckt sich meine Seele hoch --

weg van de hitte.weg von der Hitze.

Poem H5131
Amsterdam, 2024-12-13
Feast of the Purification (Vilnis Smidbergs) - 1999
Litany "Festum purgativum", for violin and organ ("Feast of the Purification" [of the Blessed Virgin Maria], or: "Candlemass", coinciding with the presentation of Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem [Luke 2:22-39], celebrated on February 2nd; performed on December 13th, 2024 in the Organpark by Indulis Cintins (violin) and Una Cintina (organ)
Collection: org anp ARK 
Composer: Smidbergs, Vilnis 
 

The mummy body

is without breath, as God once --


created Adam.


Het mummie-lichaamMumienkörper
zonder adem, zoals ooit God --ohne Atem, wie Gott einst --

de eerste mens schiep.den Menschen erschuf.

Poem H5075
Amsterdam, 2024-11-16
Head of E.O.W. (Frank Auerbach) - 1958
Painting
Head of E.O.W.
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life
Collection: Metamorphic body
Tribute to: Auerbach, Frank 
 

The fallow land, strewn

with stones, bugs in the wild plants --


Another third day.


Braak land vol stenen,Steine im Ödland,
wat beestjes in wild gewas --Tierchen im wilden Gewächs --

Weer de derde dag.Die dritten Tage.

Poem H5012
Amsterdam, 2024-10-25
Collection: Metamorphic body
 

Commandos climb through

the cave at night with torches --


Into the city.


Commando's klimmenKommandos klettern
's nachts met toortsen door de grot --nachts mit Fackeln durch die Schlucht --

de bovenstad in.in die Oberstadt.

Poem H4971
Amsterdam, 2024-10-11
Stained glass windows (Hansjörg Fink and Elmar Lehnen) - 2022
Composition "Vitraux", part "Jesus jagt die Händler und Käufer aus dem Tempel" ("Jesus drives the merchants and buyers out of the temple"), performed by Hansjörg Fink (trombone) and Elmar Lehnen (organ) at the Organpark on October 11th, 2024
The stained glass windows in question were installed by Arcabas (Jean-Marie Pirot) in the Notre-Dame des Neiges in Alpe d'Huez
Mark 14:10,20 Judas, the commander of the 'dagger-men', enters the city of Jerusalem through the shaft above the Siloam spring on the Thursday after the festive entry, and the next day he is the first of the Twelve (the king's council) to be 'baptised' with Jesus as a martyr for God's rule
Collections: The King, org anp ARK 
Tribute to: Pirot, Jean-Marie 
Composers: Fink, Hansjörg; Lehnen, Elmar 
 

The sacrificial

doves flutter over the booths --


in the temple square.


De offerduivenDie Opfertauben
fladderen over de markt --flattern über den Buden --

op het tempelplein.auf dem Tempelplatz.

Poem S2405
Amsterdam, 2024-10-11
Stained glass windows (Hansjörg Fink and Elmar Lehnen) - 2022
Composition "Vitraux", part "Jesus jagt die Händler und Käufer aus dem Tempel" ("Jesus drives the merchants and buyers out of the temple", Hansjörg Fink [trombone] and Elmar Lehnen [organ]), performed by them at the Organpark on October 11th, 2024
The stained glass windows in question were installed by Arcabas (Jean-Marie Pirot) in the Notre-Dame des Neiges in Alpe d'Huez
Collections: The King, org anp ARK 
Tribute to: Pirot, Jean-Marie 
Composers: Fink, Hansjörg; Lehnen, Elmar 
 

Look outside, wait, then

you will see the light that is --


already inside you.


Kijk naar buiten, wacht,Schaue nach draußen,
dan zul je het zien, het licht --warte, dann wirst du sehen --

dat al in je is.das Licht in dir selbst.

Poem H4962
Amsterdam, 2024-10-05
As the Waters Cover the Sea (Nick Cave) - 2024
Song, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, album "Wild God"
Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover (the bottom of) the sea (ca. 615 BC)
Collection: No wonder
Tribute to: Cave, Nick 
 

Sleep, anger, so that

the lightning of your beauty --


can't strike anyone.


Slaap, boosheid, opdatSchlafe, Zorn, damit
de bliksem van jouw schoonheid --der Kriegsblitz deiner Schönheit --

niemand van ons treft.keinen von uns trifft.

Poem S2977
Amsterdam, 2024-09-28
Sleep, oh lightning of war (Antonio Ottoboni / Alessandro Scarlatti) - 1697
Air ""Dormi, o fulmine di guerra", from the oratorio "La Giuditta" (Judith)
Collection: Love Mind and Death
Tribute to: Ottoboni, Antonio 
Composer: Scarlatti, Alessandro 
 

You are not alone,

I will accompany you --


We shall share our fate.


Je bent niet alleen,Du bist nicht allein,
ik zal je vergezellen --ich werde dich begleiten --

Wij delen ons lot.Dein Schicksal ist meins.

Poem H4932
De Koog, 2024-09-23
Come, follow me faithfully (Iacopo Cassetti / Antonio Vivaldi) - 1716
Air "Veni, me sequere fida" from the oratorio "Juditha triumphans" ("Judith triumphant", RV 644) - Judith (and Abra)
Collection: Em Brace
Tribute to: Cassetti, Iacopo 
Composer: Vivaldi, Antonio 
 

The anointed priest

is adorned with energy:


twelve precious gemstones.


De hogepriesterDer Hohepriester
is getooid met energie:ist mit Energie geschmückt:

twaalf edelstenen.zwölf Edelsteine.

Poem H4917
De Koog, 2024-09-16
Gut Symmetries (Jeanette Winterson) - 1997
Novel; Gut = Grand unified theory), chapter The Star - Stella (Sarah)
The priestly breastplate (Israel)
Collection: Specialities
Tribute to: Winterson, Jeanette 
 

What is man, I ask

You, and why then are You so --


concerned about us?


Wat stelt de mens voor,Was ist dann der Mensch,
vraag ik U, waarom bent U --frag ich Sie, warum sind Sie --

zo bezorgd om ons?so besorgt um uns?

Poem H4812
Amsterdam, 2024-07-30
Let me alone, Lord (Cristóbal de Morales) - 1528
A cappella song "Parce mihi Domine", opening of the "Officium defuntorum" ("Service of the Dead"), performed in 1993 by the Hilliard Ensemble (vocals) and Jan Garbarek (saxophone)
Collection: Thinkles Lusionless
Composer: De Morales, Cristóbal 
 

Strangers ruled here, but

there will be another day --


with a light of peace.


Vreemden heersten hier,Hier herrschten Fremde,
maar het zal weer dag worden:aber der Tag wird kommen:

een licht van vrede.ein Licht des Friedens.

Poem H4813
Amsterdam, 2024-07-30
At the first (Anon. [Cesko]) - 1400
A cappella song "Primo tempore", performed in 1993 by the Hilliard Ensemble (vocals) and Jan Garbarek (saxophone)
Collection: Moist glow
Tribute to: Anon. [Cesko]; Garbarek, Jan 
 

Zywa The Dream Garden

In the dream garden I celebrate
the beauty of everything
that pleases me
No corpse smell anywhere

everyone a floral scent
on his paradisaical body
with heavenly senses

like Adam and Eve
and no one falls

and there's nothing to lose

Pleasures abound
everyone's wishes fulfilled

because they have changed
and no longer bite each other
The perfect world

where life is no longer
what it was, not as we
know it, a garden where
our time, time, does not exist

Poem 5536
Amsterdam, 2024-06-03
Heavenly paradise
Luke 23:43, 2 Corinthians 12:3-4, Revelations 2:7
Collection: Secrets & Believers
 

Zywa Half a century later

The envoy was summoned
with friends and refugees
agitators it was said, and
banished from the country
so he went

and started writing
letters, which we update
pasting suitable fragments
into our argument
for encouragement

He would agree
The world has changed
so we twist his words
to reflect the shine
of his authority on our

unwavering word and deed
like heavily loaded soldiers
drive their two-pointed stakes in a circle
around the camp in the evening
prepared to give their lives

Poem 5521
Amsterdam, 2024-04-30
Philological study "De eerste editie van Paulus" ("The first edition of Paul", Charles Vergeer)
Envoy: the apostle Paul was an envoy of the leaders of the Orthodox Jews, the high priests Simeon 'Cephas' ('Peter', 27-44) and Jacob 'Oblias' (44-66), as the elders/presbyters/bishops of the 'Christian' believers (Greeks and Jews) in Ephesus half a century later also consider themselves envoys of faith
Letters: to the ('Christian'-)Orthodox Jews in Corinth, written from the capital of the province of Asia, Ephesus, where 200,000 people lived at the time, and where the Jews and 'Christians' had not been chased away as happened in the other cities of the Roman Empire; therefore Ephesus became the centre of Christian tradition, where the Gospels of Luke and John, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Apostolikon (the 'Missionary Sermons', later incorrectly referred to as the Pauline Epistles) originated
Soldiers: 2 Corinthians 12:7 "And lest I should boast of special revelations, I had to bear a palisade upon my weak flesh, a satanic angel to beat me down"
Collection: The King
Tribute to: Vergeer, Charles 
 

Zywa Paradox [2]

On the eve of the battle
people sing on the hills
outside the city wall
because victory is at hand

We must follow the promise
we must free ourselves
we must and therefore may
shed blood

Two generations later
it is only a vague story
The pockets of resistance have been
destroyed, the mass graves overgrown

Only the losers don't forget
One party looks back with a grudge
and puts a curse on the other
which sublimates the defeat

into a paradox
because those who have God
on their side can only win -
in His sublime reality

Poem 5501
Amsterdam, 2024-04-16
Sunday evening, April 2nd, 30 CE in Bethany, just outside Jerusalem: celebration of the coronation of the Liberator ('Jesus'), as the Anointed king ('Christ')
At hand: Mark 1:15, 14:41-42 "The hour is come; the delivery of the city is at hand!"
Pockets of resistance and mass graves: the Roman Shoah (total destruction) of 2000 years ago against the rebellious Jews
There were two parties of losers: the Jews who concluded from the failure of the rebellion that the Liberator ('Jesus') was apparently not the Messiah (Anointed/Christ), and the Jews who insisted that he was, but that the liberation was spiritual, not worldly
In the fifth century CE, the first group added a curse against the 'Christian' Jews as the 19th prayer to the Amidah (the Shemoneh Esrah, Eighteen Prayer), number 12, named Birkat haMinim (On the heretics)
Philological studies "Paulus - Kijken in Uw lezend gezicht" ("Paul - Looking into Your Reading Face", 2012), "Geschreven en toegeschreven" ("Scribed and Ascribed", 2013) and "Wie was Paulus wel?!" ("Who was Paul?!", 2016) by Charles Vergeer
Collection: The King
Tribute to: Vergeer, Charles 
 

Zywa R.I.P.

May the dead rest in peace
we say, the rest
of dreamless sleep

in the afterlife
of limbo
during the tedious wait
for the thereafterlife
of heaven

Perhaps that is
purgatory: idleness
till eternity, Amen

May the dead rest in peace
we say, the unrest
of our memory
which knows it is too late
to undo what has been done

Perhaps that is
life: being restless
until death

Poem 5503
Amsterdam, 2024-04-16
R.I.P. = Rest in peace, from: Psalm 4:8 "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety"
Now and ever, (and) unto ages of ages. Amen: Psalm 89:52 "Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen" (used as conclusion of 'the Lord's Prayer', Luke 11:2-4)
Collection: Summer birds
 

Zywa Contagious fire

The elders justify
their inner knowing
They must indeed split
when they disagree

about the temptations
which always present themselves
as the true way

They never shout
They know how it works
and let others conclude
who is being falsely accused

They bless and encourage
their supporters to receive
insights themselves

placed directly in their minds
by a spiritual light
or a rushing wind
that everyone feels

Poem 5497
Amsterdam, 2024-04-15
Pentecostal church in Schiedam 1971-1972, joined the New Dawn-group in 1974
Split: 2 Corinthians 11:13-14
Collection: The King
Tribute to: Vergeer, Charles 
 

Zywa With a dead loved one

It is finished
We embalmed him, relieved
to wrap him up and
to see him in our mind
again as he was

Here with him
in the memorial room
of our lives with him
he is close, we feel
his presence

and run outside in fear
even before he is laid
in the grave, the body
is ready in the hall
he himself is no longer there

Poem 5494
Amsterdam, 2024-04-14
John 19:30 "It is finished"
Mark 15:46 Joseph places the corpse of his son, the Liberator ('Jesus'), in the memorial room (the memoria) of the family tomb, which is the hall where the relatives gather to commemorate the entombed dead
Mark 16:1-8 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary, the wife and mother of the Liberator ('Jesus'), went into the memorial room to embalm the body. The stone in front of the entrance appears to have been rolled away. They experience God's presence and flee in fear.
Historical romance novel "Kallirhoë" (Chariton, 2nd century): 3.3.1 when he arrived, he found that the sepulchre's sealing stones were moving, clearing the entrance
Romance novel "Ephesiaká" 3.8 (Xenophon of Ephese, 3rd century): Perilaus goes to Anthia's tomb and finds the entrance open
Philological studies "A nameless one - Jesus the Nazarene" (1997), "The panther cub: life and suffering of Jesus the Nazarene" (2000), and "Paul - Looking into Your Reading Face" (2012) by Charles Vergeer
Collection: The King
Tribute to: Vergeer, Charles 
 

Without the ear he

can no longer be king, but --


he has four brothers.


Zonder oor kan hijOhne Ohr kann er
niet langer de koning zijn --nicht mehr König sein, aber --

maar hij heeft vier broers.er hat vier Brüder.

Poem S2175
Amsterdam, 2024-04-14
Mark 14:47 Knowing that the Messiah must be intact as God's representative, an accomplice of the high priests and Pharisees mutilates the Liberator ('Jesus', the anointed ('Messiah') servant of the Lord, John 18:10), and the high priest Joseph Caiaphas, appointed by the Romans, tears the seamless robe that the Liberator ('Jesus') wears (Mark 14:63)
Four brothers: Jacob, Joses (little Joseph), Simeon and Judah (Mark 6:3)
Philological studies "A nameless one - Jesus the Nazarene" (1997) and "The panther cub: life and suffering of Jesus the Nazarene" (2000) by Charles Vergeer
Collection: The King
Tribute to: Vergeer, Charles 
 

The high priest himself

is a born fighter, he must --


risk his life for God.


De hogepriesterDer Hohepriester
is een vechtersbaas, hij waagt --ist ein Kämpfer, er riskiert --

zijn leven voor God.sein Leben für Gott.

Poem S2176
Amsterdam, 2024-04-14
Simeon, the 'Kephas' ('Rock'/'Peter', the high priest) of the rebellious Orthodox Jews, takes part in the attack on the house of the Roman-appointed high priest Joseph Caiaphas, where the Liberator ('Jesus') is being held captive; so he ventures into the lion's den
The word 'alektor' should not be understood as 'the cock', but as 'eklektos': 'the chosen one' (the high priest)
Philological studies "A nameless one - Jesus the Nazarene" (1997) and "The panther cub: life and suffering of Jesus the Nazarene" (2000) by Charles Vergeer
Collection: The King
Tribute to: Vergeer, Charles 
 

The earth is turning

red, a field of blood, too steep --


for any escape.


De aarde kleurt rood,Die Erde wird rot,
een bloedakker, te steil --ein Blutacker, viel zu steil --

om te ontsnappen.um zu entkommen.

Poem S2177
Amsterdam, 2024-04-14
Juda(s) and the insurgents who, pursued by the Roman cavalry, tried to flee through the Kidron valley, fell near the Ein Rogel spring in narrowing of the valley, on the slope that has since been called Akeldáma (Field of Blood) (Acts 1:18-19 "Judas [..] fell headlong, burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it is known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood"; also Matthew 27:9)
Philological studies "A nameless one - Jesus the Nazarene" (1997) and "The panther cub: life and suffering of Jesus the Nazarene" (2000) by Charles Vergeer
Collection: The King
Tribute to: Vergeer, Charles 
 

Zywa There is little time

There is little time, I still want
to tell my story
not what happened to me

the physical blows
the fear in my breath
and the self-doubt

but the crushing
the invisible
fire that was suddenly there

the insight, the love and the care
for me and everyone
who lacked it

that allows refugees and displaced people
to wade dry through the sea, the river
and rescues drowning people

that keeps the dead alive
because reality exists
as we think it does

Poem 5488
Amsterdam, 2024-04-12
There is little time: [A] for the eight billion people to make the earth livable, [B] when you are old, [C] according to Paul's conviction that the Messiah/Christ/ Anointed will soon return
What happened to me: Chronological: 1 Corinthians 15:31, 2 Corinthians 1:8, Acts 18:12, 17:14, 17:5, 2 Corinthians 7:5, Acts 16:19,22-24
The Fire: Exodus 3:4, 13:21, 14:24, Acts 9:3-4, Galatians 1:15-16, 2:2, 1 Corinthians 15:8
Through the Sea: escape through the Red Sea led by Moses (Exodus 14:21-22)
Through the river: entry into the Promised Land led by Joshua (Joshua 3:14-17)
Drowning people: Paul on his journey as a prisoner from Jerusalem to Rome (Acts 27:41-44)
The scheme of Acts is that the centre of faith moves from Jerusalem to Rome
Philological studies "Paulus - Kijken in Uw lezend gezicht" ("Paul - Looking into Your Reading Face", 2012), "Geschreven en toegeschreven" ("Scribed and Ascribed", 2013) and "Wie was Paulus wel?!" ("Who was Paul?!", 2016) by Charles Vergeer
Collection: The King
Tribute to: Vergeer, Charles 
 

It is a new plan:

to free the Liberator --


from our own despair.


Het is een nieuw plan:Der Plan: Befreiung
de Bevrijder bevrijden --des Befreiers aus dieser --

uit onze wanhoop.Verzweiflung unser.

Poem S2174
Amsterdam, 2024-04-12
[A] The Liberator ('Jesus') is imprisoned in the house of Joseph Caiaphas, the high priest appointed by the Romans, a collaborator in the eyes of the Orthodox Jews
[B] The later, 'Christian', interpretation explains the incognito of Simeon, the 'Kefas' ('Rock'/'Petrus') as a denial, to blacken the group of followers of the Liberator ('Jesus') in Jerusalem (and to exonerate the Romans of the execution)
Philological studies "A nameless one - Jesus the Nazarene" (1997) and "The panther cub: life and suffering of Jesus the Nazarene" (2000) by Charles Vergeer
Collection: The King
Tribute to: Vergeer, Charles 
 

Zywa Zealots

If I hadn't already
rotted in this swamp
with my last bit of hope
that despite everything
God is still with me
I would turn

and howl in misery
They twist my words
and my life to make
a success out of failure
There is nothing left
of His power, His royal rule

There are no zealots anymore
exterminated everywhere
or worshipping the murdered
king as a Golden Calf
There is no future
for humility anymore

Poem 5485
Amsterdam, 2024-04-11
The reinterpreation of Paul
Zealots: [1] followers of the Way: Nazarenes, Zealots, dagger-men (sicarii), and later: jihadists, [2] the Orthodox Jews who do not recognise the emperor
John 14:6: "Jesus said to him [Thomas], I am the Way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me."
According to legend, the Apostle Paul was beheaded in the swampy area near de Sage Springs (Aquae Salviae) outside the southern city wall of Rome
Massacred everywhere: throughout the Roman Empire, by the army, which makes no distinction between the Orthodox Jews (like Paul) and the 'anointers' (the 'Christians', as the Jews who believe that the Liberator ['Jesus'] was the Messiah, are mockingly called - a name they adopt as reappropriation)
The Christians do not focus on God's rule, but on redemption through the murdered Liberator ('Jesus') the Messiah/Christ/Anointed, which is a blasphemy for Jews like Paul
Philological studies "Paulus - Kijken in Uw lezend gezicht" ("Paul - Looking into Your Reading Face", 2012) and "Geschreven en toegeschreven" ("Scribed and Ascribed", 2013) by Charles Vergeer
Collection: The King
Tribute to: Vergeer, Charles 
 

He's looking around

the city in order to --


take it with true peace.


Hij verkent de stadEr erkundet die
om haar in te gaan nemen --Stadt, um sie einzunehmen --

met ware vrede.mit wahrem Frieden.

Poem H4594
Amsterdam, 2024-04-11
After the entry on Monday April 3rd, 30 CE, the Liberator ('Jesus') explores the centre of Jerusalem with the troops led by Judas (Mark 11:11)
Subsequently, they occupy the temple (expulsion of the tax collectors); Judas delivers the centre of the city to the new king
Tuesday April 4th, 30 CE: Roman troops from Caesarea arrive and retake the temple square
(Maundy) Thursday: second attack, which completely fails
Philological studies "Een nameloze - Jezus de Nazarener" ("A nameless one - Jesus the Nazarene", 1997) and "Het panterjong: leven en lijden van Jezus de Nazarener" ("The panther cub: life and suffering of Jesus the Nazarene", 2000) by Charles Vergeer
Collection: The King
Tribute to: Vergeer, Charles 
 

Zywa The better world

People believe, but doubt
more and more, they look for support
in each other, in discussions

about the old promise
and the new one
that does not come true

Few of them, of us
are left
We keep a low profile

keep our meetings
private so that we can speak
freely and do not cause offence

We sing the songs
recite old letters
and summarise it all

in new words
which we write down to pass them on
It's still possible, the last days
are still ongoing

Poem 5482
Amsterdam, 2024-04-10
Command for a better world, under God's rule (put into Jesus' mouth, referring to Genesis 9:1)
The ongoing Jewish uprisings against Roman authority lead to a large-scale extermination of pockets of resistance, in order to maintain the Pax Romana. In this difficult situation, the leaders of the 'Christian'-Jewish community in Ephesus (south of Izmir) compiled a collection of texts of faith in the year 95 under the heading 'Letters of Paul', using fragments from some letters written by Paul in the years 52-54, from Ephesus to the 'Christian'-Jewish community in Corinth
Few of them: of the Old Covenant
Few of us: of the New Covenant
Philological studies "Paulus - Kijken in Uw lezend gezicht" ("Paul - Looking into Your Reading Face", 2012) and "Geschreven en toegeschreven" ("Scribed and Ascribed", 2013) by Charles Vergeer
Collection: The King
Tribute to: Vergeer, Charles 
 

Woe, this wicked city!

Hear! Hear! We are preparing --


the Way for our king.


Wee, verdorven stad!Wehe, böse Stadt!
Hoort! Wij bereiden de Weg --Wir bereiten unserem --

voor onze koning!König den Weg! Hört!

Poem H4592
Amsterdam, 2024-04-09
The movement of Jewish rebels at the end of the 20s of the CE is called the Way (to the establishment of God's royal rule, as under Joshua)
Mark 1:2 was inserted later and refers to Exodus 23:20 and Malachi 3:1, "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy Way before thee"
Mark 1:3 refers to Isaiah 40:3, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the Way of the Lord, make his paths straight"
Acts 24:22 "And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that Way, he deferred them"
Philological study "Paulus - Kijken in Uw lezend gezicht" ("Paul - Looking into Your Reading Face", 2012, Charles Vergeer), Paragraph 1.1.a
Collection: The King
Tribute to: Vergeer, Charles 
 

Zywa The sweet suffering

Love of neighbour, sometimes a cup
from which I drink my own blood
sometimes a heavy cross
that I want to bear, help me
and have mercy
when I fall

I want to watch, watch over
the good, I want to drink
milk and honey, sweeten what
is bitter, even the bitterest
death, and do no harm
to anyone

I want to give my blood
my heart, my life
as a resting place
for my saviour
and eternal happiness
will flow within me

Poem 5476
Amsterdam, 2024-03-30
Pietism, pietistic movement within Lutheranism, since 1675
"St Matthew Passion" (1727, lyrics Christian Friedrich Henrici ['Picander'], music Johann Sebastian Bach, BWV 244), #66, #29, #47, #26, #29, #28, #26, #19, #75
Collection: The Praised One
 

Zywa Idée crucifixe

A fan of songs halts
at spectators and life's emotions
purple and gold, betrayal
failure and consolation

A large beacon of light, a cross
carried very slowly
through the streets, so different
from 2000 years ago

In the beginning was the wood
and the wood became the light
of men, the sign
of eternal life

for those who want to see it
a happy ending
of peace and charity
more beautiful than in a dream

Poem 5473
Amsterdam, 2024-03-29
Cruci-fix = fixed to a cross
Idée fixe = unalterable view, a preoccupation of mind
Since 2011, the music show "The Passion" of Jesus Christ has been shown on Dutch television on Maundy Thursday
John 1:1,4 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God", "In him was life, and the life was the light of men"
Collection: The Praised One
 

Children are dying

of hunger, then they are food --


Nothing else to eat.


Kinderen stervenKinder verhungern,
van de honger, zij zijn het --sie sterben und sind dann die --

enige voedsel.einzige Nahrung.

Poem S2155
Amsterdam, 2024-03-23
Lamentations 4:10 - -587
Palestine in the year 587 BC (destruction of Jerusalem) >> Lamentations 4:10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden [cooked] their own children; they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Collection: May the Might
 

The cities destroyed,

people raped, people murdered --


and people enslaved.


De steden verwoest,Die Städte zerstört,
de mensen verkracht, vermoord --die Menschen vergewaltigt --

tot slaven gemaakt.ermordet, versklavt.

Poem S2156
Amsterdam, 2024-03-23
Lessons of darkness (François Couperin) - 1714
Composition "Leçons de ténèbres" - Troisième Leçon pour le Vendredi Saint (Third lesson for Good Friday) for two sopranos, viola da gamba, theorbo and organ, performed in the Organpark on March 23rd, 2024 by La Sfera Armoniosa (Johannette Zomer, Channa Malkin, Paulina van Laarhoven, Mike Fentross, Pieter van Dijk)
Palestine in the year 587 BC (destruction of Jerusalem) >> Lamentations 5:11 They ravished [raped] the women in Zion, the maids in the cities of Judah.
Collection: org ANP ark 
Composer: Couperin, Francois 
 

Zywa Theologic

If you call the beginning of the universe
Creator, Father of the world, even then
it remains far away, you would need
if possible, a connection

a Holy Spirit, no wonder
it was invented, fortunately
there was already the theologic
of the resurrection from the dead

not yet granted to us humans
but which has been promised
to the believers, who hope
that it is possible, just

because it must have happened that way
that He already is with our Father
the Creator, to whom He in all
his divinity naturally says Papa

Poem 5452
Amsterdam, 2024-03-07
Abba is the familiar address of your father: dad. Jesus was divine, and therefore addressed God as 'Dad'; After all, he was Dad's son, that is 'bar-abba', translated into Greek that is: Barabbas. Jesus the Anointed (Christ) was therefore also given the title Barabbas (Dad's son).
Mark wrote the oldest Gospel and used that title in 15:7 without Jesus' name, so as not to provoke the Romans. To the believers it was clear anyway; the title could only have meant Jesus. In some manuscripts of the later written Gospel of Matthew does verse 27:17 not say: "Jesus or Barabbas", but: "Jesus Barabbas", because that was no longer dangerous under Roman rule.
Collection: The King
 

My light will go out,

it couldn't get any darker --


Here I am. Take me.


Mijn licht zal doven,Mein Licht wird enden,
donkerder kan het niet zijn --es könnte nicht dunkler sein --

Hier ben ik. Neem mij.Hier bin ich. Nimm mich.

Poem H4322
Amsterdam, 2023-11-30
You want it darker (Leonard Cohen) - 2016
Isaac calls his father and Abraham answers: "Hineni" ("Here am I", Genesis 22:7), a quotation from Isaiah 6:8 (the calling of the prophet Isaiah): "And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then I said, 'Here am I! Send me.' " On New Year's Day (Rosh Hashanah), believers repeat this answer.
Song (2016, Leonard Cohen, album "You want it darker")
Collection: Over
Tribute to: Cohen, Leonard 
 

Just you, all of you,

and my imagination --


and my hankering.


Alleen jij, allesNur du, nur alles
van jou, en mijn fantasie --von dir, nur mein Bild von dir --

en mijn verlangen.und mein Verlangen.

Poem H4297
Amsterdam, 2023-11-21
Just (After Song of Songs) (David Lang) - 2014
Song, used in 2015 in the film "Youth" by Paolo Sorrentino; performed by Lichtbende in the Organpark on November 17th, 2023
Collection: org ANP ark 
Composer: Lang, David 
 

Zywa Hand washing [2]

They say that we are back
home again, here
in this foreign land
where our ancestors once lived

They tell fantastic stories
and that we must persevere now
then the olives, the land
and the livestock will be ours

They are grateful to be here
in the land that, according
to them, we longed for
and which we must defend

They are so certain
and they take offence
at my considerations
of what peace entails

Poem 5373
Amsterdam, 2023-11-09
Return of Israelis after the exile in Assyria, after the years in Egypt, and after the Shoah
Under the leadership of Joshua ("Salvation"), the Israelites conquer Canaan, eastern Jordan and southern Lebanon, but not the coastal area of the Philistines: 'Palestine' (Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron), capturing the cattle and killing the people
The Promised Land ((Joshua 24:13 "And I have given you a land for which you did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.")
Collection: The Praised One
 

Zywa Ordered stories

Better a thrilling story
that holds attention
than sad facts

Better an imaginary son
and a string of doubles
than a murderer

Better a drunken father
than a son who fathers a child
with his mother and is proud of it

Better a phantom father
with an empty life
than a mad one

Better a glorious past
told in a Grand Narrative
rosy from beginning to end

Better a lied future
than the complicated truth
and personal responsibility

Poem 5375
Amsterdam, 2023-11-09
Stories that deny the events:
- The Israelites supposedly did not descend from Cain, the murderer of Abel, but from the fictitious son Seth, so that a whole line of doubles is needed up until the Flood
Ham supposedly did not rape his mother (Genesis 9:21-25), resulting in a pregnancy and the birth of Canaan, but merely saw his father (Noah) naked, who is blamed for this because he was supposedly drunk
Isaac supposedly was saved by an angel when his father wanted to kill him; therefore, offspring must be assigned to Isaac: instead of Abraham, he becomes the father of Esau and Jacob, an intervention facilitated by the fact that their mother Rebekah was much younger than Abraham (who took her as his third wife to have more sons than just Ishmael; Rebekah, like Abraham and Sarah, came from Mesopotamia, which gave Esau and Jacob a higher status than Ishmael); no details are mentioned in the Bible regarding patriarch Isaac, because he was killed as a child: his life is empty
Grand Narrative: And he [God] said: Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome (Genesis 32:29)
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Fight between the rivers

He is a dreamer, Dad
He is your younger self

Both of you want to move around
Both of you always want

new valleys
new views

Why do you want to look further
Why isn't it here

your Promised Land
your green pastures?

He is a dreamer, Dad
He is a phantom himself

     I followed him into the field
     I wrestled with him

     to talk about the promise
     to understand its meaning

     It was his intention, Dad
     It wasn't really an accident

     Why don't you believe that?
     Why are you packing up now?

Poem 5369
Amsterdam, 2023-11-08
Cain speaks to Adam
Study: "Words become Worlds" (1994, Ellen van Wolde); § 4 is the publication "The Study of Cain and Abel. A Narrative Study" (1991)
Collection: A Home
Tribute to: Van Wolde, Ellen 
 

Zywa Fight on the threshing floor

He was indeed fertile, together
with his second wife, but
Sarah, the first, was more important

As if going mad, he wrestled
with God and His promise
of a large posterity

And when Isaac finally arrived
the little one was pampered so much
that he was a disappointment, a softy

a little Abel, so different
from his big brother
He could not be suitable

for God's unfathomable plan
he knew God that well
So he contrived a sacrifice

But a man appeared
He had to be an angel
as God's disguise

and they fought over the knife
Abraham won, Isaac died, and Sarah
never spoke another word

Poem 5359
Amsterdam, 2023-11-06
2 Samuel 24:24 And the king [David] said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor [that is one of the Moriah mountains, the later Temple Mount] and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Fight on the Blue River

Father
dreamed further than granddad
He dreamed high into heaven
But the thought of having to return
to the lowlands where he was not safe
from
his brother, drove him mad
No herd of gifts
would be large enough
to appease him
but
there was no alternative
He had to go there with his family
to show us, the grandchildren
to his parents
At night
a man appeared
with whom he wrestled
It must have been an angel
God in disguise
He fought
for His support
in resisting his brother
Father won, he took courage
despite the broken hip

Poem 5361
Amsterdam, 2023-11-06
Granddad = Abraham, brother = Ishma-El, "Canaan" = "Lowlands"
Jacob's byname is "Isra-El" = "Who contends with God"
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Fight in the Lowlands

From generation to generation
separate from the others
hoping for a place
where we are not strangers

For centuries uncertain
about our fate, wrestling
with The Name, we fighting
for a safe home

Seeking peace on The Mount
Driving out the new Philistines
who seek our lives
from the Lowlands

They die by the thousands
as their buildings collapse
Not a single pillar remains standing
for only the land, this land

the whole land, the whole city
the whole mountain, everything
from the river to the sea
can ease our doubts

Poem 5363
Amsterdam, 2023-11-06
The Name: "HaShem", the indication of God
Wrestling: after the byname "Isra-El" = "Who contends with God" (Genesis 32:28)
The Mount: Moriah and Zion, the centre of Jerusalem
Lowlands: "Canaan", with the Gaza Strip, where the Philistines used to live
Pillar: Samson destroys a temple in Gaza (Book of Judges 16:26-30)
From the river to the sea: Palestinian slogan, which also characterises the policy of the State of Israel
Collection: The Praised One
 

Man as Creator

keeps grafting new qualities --


onto ancient roots.


De mens als SchepperDer Mensch als Schöpfer
ent nieuwe eigenschappen --pfropft neue Eigenschaften --

op oude stammen.auf alten Wurzeln.

Poem H4276
Amsterdam, 2023-11-03
Sexing the cherry (Jeanette Winterson) - 1989
Novel, chapter "1649" (Anno Domini 1649)
Romans 11:19-20 Jewish branches are broken off in order to graft the shoots of the Christian faith onto the trunk of the Old Covenant
Collection: No wonder
Tribute to: Winterson, Jeanette 
 

Principalities

praise the Supreme Being, so --


beware! They'll crush you!


Heerschappijen prijzenDie Fürsten loben
de Allerhoogste, pas op!den Allerhöchsten, pass auf!

Je wordt verpletterd!Sie zerschmettern dich!

Poem S1939
Amsterdam, 2023-09-30
Praise the Lord (Jan Welmers) - 1979
Composition "Laudate Dominum" (Psalm 117), for organ, performed by Jan Hage in the Organpark on September 30th, 2023
(Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite: Seraphim – Cherubim – Thrones – Dominations – Virtues – Powers – Principalities – Archangels – Angels)
Collection: org ANP ark 
Composer: Welmers, Jan 
 

Zywa The Principalities and Powers

Always thresholds everywhere
To the world to be alive
Surviving people everywhere
Chance, above all everywhere
 
Angel of Farewell, get lost in love
Pass me, pass me by
Angel of Betrayal, get lost in friendship
Pass me, pass me by
Angel of Conceit, get lost in attention
Pass me, pass me by
Angel of Pettiness, get lost in freedom
Pass me, pass me by
Angel of Destructive Jealousy, get lost in generosity
Pass me, pass me by
Angel of Impatience, get lost in order
Pass me, pass me by
Angel of Brutality, get lost in harmony
Pass me, pass me by
 
But you, won't you pass by? You, yes you
please seize the day with me come and
take and give and share and
eat and drink with me!
 
Angels of Fatigue, kiss the mighty
Hear me, see me, help me
Angels of the Tempests, kiss the vicious
Hear me, see me, help me
Angels of Reluctance, kiss the manipulators and tormentors
Hear me, see me, help me
Angels of Neglect, kiss the hangers-on and profiteers
Hear me, see me, help me
Angel of Mistakes, kiss the hypocrites and deputies
Hear me, see me, help me
Angel of Myopia, kiss the liars and imposters
Hear me, see me, help me
Angel of Indulgence, kiss the bitter and frustrated people
Hear me, see me, help me
 
And you, won't you pass by? You, yes you
please seize the day with me come and
take and give and share and
eat and drink with me!

Poem 5135
Amsterdam, 2023-04-16
Litany of the Saints
The Time of the Angels (Iris Murdoch) - 1966
Novel "The Time of the Angels" (Iris Murdoch)
Besides the two psalms also: Isaiah 28:29, Amos 5:14, Zechariah 4:6, 7:9-10, Ephesians 6:12, Romansn 8:38-39, Colossians 2:9-10, 1 Peter 3:22
The closing song of "Tommy" (1969, Pete Townshend, The Who), "We're not gonna take it", ends with the exclamation "See me, feel me, / touch me, heal me"
Collection: On living on [2]
Tribute to: Murdoch, Iris; Townshend, Pete 
 

Zywa Bad tidings

God's wisdom is above all
above the impossible, above time
and the sigh of the ages
in which man exists, it is
contained in everything as miracles

in day and night, stars and planets
in donkey, bull, ostrich and vulture
the hippopotamus and the mighty crocodile
the unimaginably many ways
the animals live

and in every drop of water, dew
hoarfrost, rain, hail, snow and ice
No man can comprehend that
nor his own presence
and the course of his life

so tiny in God's hand
who needs not direct anything
for his wisdom automatically
creates - also misfortune
and the evil of men

Poem 4948
Amsterdam, 2023-01-09
Bad tidings: Job 1:13-19
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa It was a revelation

Hoping for a good life
we are willing to endure
the hardships, we persevere

in the face of eternity
in which we will be
respected and enjoy life

It was an ancient revelation
given to the merchant
from our midst, right here

in this holy place
where the despised eldest son
rebuilt the cube with his father

Just like him, we submit ourselves
to the holy promise
of many chosen ones

Poem 4912
Amsterdam, 2023-01-03
Trader: Muhammad in the year 610
Eldest son: of Abraham, namely Ishmael
Cube: (dice): al-Ka'bah
Submission: al-islam
Many chosen ones: Genesis 17:20 (Ishmael was 13 years old, and Isaac was not yet conceived)
Collection: The Praised One
 

The birds sing for me,

yes, they like me, and the hemp --


seeds next to my chair.


De vogels zingenDie Vögel singen
voor mij en voor de hennep-für mich und die Hanfsamen --

zaadjes naast mijn stoel.neben meinem Stuhl.

Poem H3623
Amsterdam, 2022-12-28
Three Little Birds (Bob Marley) - 1977
Matthew 6:26 "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them."
Song (album "Exodus")
Collection: SoulSenseSun
Tribute to: Marley, Bob; The Wailers 
 

Zywa Mother Earth

Abel is made of cardboard, a décor
piece for the firstborn
He says nothing

He is murdered
and Cain toils on
as was commanded

at the expulsion from paradise:
man was created to
till the earth

and thus to nourish himself
She is our first mother
Do not let her bleed

for if we rape her
we will perish
very real

not like characters
in someone else's story
There will be no one else

Poem 4896
Amsterdam, 2022-12-26
Study "Words become Worlds" (1994, Ellen van Wolde): § 4 is the publication "The Study of Cain and Abel. A Narrative Study" (1991)
Collection: A Home
Tribute to: Van Wolde, Ellen 
 

Zywa Cost him a rib

It's a false story
of man, wif and wiff-or
that the world draws

the widespread story
that wif is a hole
in man's chest
costing him a rib time and again

(poor man, first drawn out
of the clay by God
and then by seven horses)

the male fantasy of of wo-man
the dream image she must play
to be watched, not seen
a man-nequin

(a bit fairy, a bit whore
sometimes a muse to his soul
and the mother of his children)

Poem 4893
Amsterdam, 2022-12-19
Ish-sha was formed out of Ish, Wo-man out of Man
From an evolutionary point of view, it would be better to say: Wif and Wiff-or (masculine wif), or Man and Mann-or
Equal names are best: Wif and Man
Man-nequin: from Man-neke = "little man", a tailor's doll or statue
Fairy and whore are the two words that do not have a masculine word form
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Useful Detrimental

Children eat from the tree of life
At first, they don't know any others
then they don't dare right away

but eventually they taste
new fruits, carefully
When necessary, they are brave
and swallow it
with a wry face

This way, they learn to choose
between useful and detrimental
adapting their world a little
to their will and ability
using knowledge and inventions

Smarter than the smartest animal

Poem 4887
Amsterdam, 2022-12-12
Smartest animal: the serpent
Study "Words become Worlds" ("Words become worlds", 1994, Ellen van Wolde): § 2 and 3, published separately in 1989
Collection: Metamorphic body
 

Zywa The meekness of God

People are abusing and disputing
and this was not foreseen -
an unwanted consequence
of their autonomy

Of course God can change his mind

Away with creation!
Away with the parting of the waters
in heaven and on earth!

A flood, and over the bygones!
One more time! Different plan!
Come on, a new beginning
a salvation and the acceptance
that there just is evil

in man, but softened
by the new progenitor
who promises to behave well
towards the earth and the people
and to be careful of them

Poem 4889
Amsterdam, 2022-12-12
Moral Wickedness: Genesis 6:5,11-13
Change his mind: Genesis 6:6-7,13
Change his mind a second time: Genesis 6:8-9, 8:21
New progenitor: Noah
Study "Words become Worlds" (1994, Ellen van Wolde): § 6, an enlarged version of the publication "Noah and God in the Story of the Flood" (1991)
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa The stewards

No one lives for himself
we sing at funerals
We live for each other, the others
live for us and work for us

except the stewards
who accumulate wealth
because they want to believe
that this is best, and because

no one can comprehend
that the creation from nothing
is all, the universe with the earth
and mankind as the servant

of the crop, first in Eden
then outside it, and after that
the second expulsion, from the city
where they worked together

expelled to all regions
to praise God world-wide
with agriculture, as if the earth
wouldn't be good enough without it

Poem 4883
Amsterdam, 2022-12-08
Song "Niemand leeft voor zichzelf" ("No one lives for himself", text Huub Oosterhuis), for the funeral of bishop Wim Bekkers on May 14th, 1966)
Luke 16:1-8 Parable of the rich steward helping the debtors
Servant: Genesis 2:5,15, 3:23 Man must till the earth, first in the garden of Eden, then outside it
Working together: Genesis 11:1,4 The people want to stay together, so they build a city with a citadel
Driven out: Genesis 11:9 The people are driven out of their city to till the whole earth
Collection: BloodTrunk 
 

Quiet as a child

in his mother's arms, quite so --


even is my soul.


Rustig als een kindRuhig wie ein Kind
op de arm van zijn moeder --auf dem Arm seiner Mutter --

zo stil is mijn ziel.ist meine Seele.

Poem H3576
Amsterdam, 2022-11-24
Psalm 131:2
Collection: The sweet curve
 

Zywa Doubt and Belief [2]

Usually angels are vague
weak shadows in the head
of the people who imagine them

but prophets have wishes
that force archangels
to do and say
what they need urgently

It comes from God
including the evil
(that people do to each other)

and the devils from tradition
whom the chosen want
to expel from everyone
who is different from them

God is Allwise
He lets men
judge for themselves

about faith and knowing
and the elaboration of rules
for everything about which
there could otherwise be doubts

Poem 4825
Amsterdam, 2022-11-20
The Satanic Verses (Salman Rushdie) - 1988
Gibreel
Collection: Sludge
Tribute to: Rushdie, Salman 
 

Zywa Clay, ribs, and blood

Lilith was just like him -
from the clay, not as docile
as me; she left him

She prefers to roam
the world, seducing
men in the evening and robbing

families of their babies
so say the malicious tongues
that blacken everyone

who does not fit in their rules
It's true that she lives in trees
like a snake, I saw her once

at least, I think it was she
who praised me for my brain
and showed me the ripe fruits

With Adam I got two children
rib from his ribs, blood of my blood
The third was later made up

by the false tongues
that whitewash everything
that does not fit in their rules

Poem 4525
Amsterdam, 2022-06-13
Cain, the oldest, was called Seth by his descendants, to cover up that he committed a murder
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa We followed the river

Adam mapped it out
in the sand: the river
flows to the middle

of the day, opposite
are the mountains, steady
in place

although they seem to float
like clouds on which the wind
has no hold

We followed the river
Life became harder
with worries about the children

and the grandchildren
I wouldn't have wanted to miss it
Only Abel, oh Abel

who was so prideful
to believe thoughtlessly
that he knew better

Poem 4527
Amsterdam, 2022-06-13
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Good boy Abel

Good boy Abel
didn't sleep at home
considering himself better

He preferred to stay alone
with the animals in the field
and the dogs as guards

because everything had to be like then
in Paradise, that region
of the stories

he always asked for again

He wanted to know everything about our lives
the wandering about, the berries
nuts, goats and cows

And he had a trick
to make white smoke
With that he mocked his brother

He blamed also Adam and me
for Cain's need for comfort
He taunted him, provoked him

Poem 4529
Amsterdam, 2022-06-13
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Creator Seth

Changing one's name
after a scandal, it works
with time

Cain could do everything
he made tools
grew beans and grasses
with edible seeds and
built a house of loam

He created what he invented
but who still wants to know now?
His name has been black-washed

so the grandchildren just
had to deny him, no
their grandfather was Seth
the only real
son of Adam and Eve

who dug little canals
and made bedsteads
who created what he invented

Poem 4531
Amsterdam, 2022-06-13
The story of the flood solved the problem of the family tree. Lamech and his family survived, while Lamach and his family drowned.
Seth >> Enos >>>> Jared >> E >> Metusalem >> Lamech
Cain >> Enoch >> Irad >> M >> Methushael >> Lamach
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa The first humans

Men are cautious
they rather spurn their chances

than to rely on their noses, but
they can be seduced to take a little bite

if you insist and
have not gotten sick from it yourself

Indeed, it started
with the famous apple, a fig

After the first one he too wanted more
We learned

to look through the foliage
to remember where the trees are

and how to get there, to smell
where the fruit is ripe

We got up earlier than the others
and left in the moonlight

to be the first just a little further away
and get the prize

We grew in our head
and became human

Poem 4519
Amsterdam, 2022-06-11
Inaugural lecture by Karline Janmaat on June 10th, 2022 in Leiden: with the emerging of angiospermous (seed-containing) plants, primates evolved into human beings
The tree of the knowledge of good (useful) and bad (detrimental)
Collection: A Home
 

In our character,

our convictions make imprints --


of unfree conduct.


OvertuigingenÜberzeugungen
stempelen ons karakter --prägen deinen Charakter --

met onvrij gedrag.Du handelst unfrei.

Poem S1357
Amsterdam, 2022-03-18
Against the Epistle to the Ephesians 1:13-14
Character = Imprint
Collection: Imprints Masks
 

I am crying out

of the depth, deeply wishing --


you love me, do you?


Vanuit de diepteAus meiner Tiefe
roep ik om te geloven --rufe ich, um zu glauben --

dat jij van me houdt.an deine Liebe.

Poem H3023
Amsterdam, 2021-08-21
Song "De profundis clamavi" ("Out of the depths have I cried")
Collection: On living on [1]
 

Zywa Twilight of the gods

As a baby, I was taken
to a friendly temple, and there
I safely followed the royal drama
for life and death

It was an act of desperation
by my father
to break the insatiable power
of the priests

with a twilight of the gods
which ended their worship service
and declared it invalid, super-ceded
by a higher concept

of the divine, and as a king
he could not be a puppet
of the priests, but the sun
was beyond his reach

The Creator was more earthy, older
and would have been a better choice
my choice
after they murdered my father

I saw how the conflict intensified
Akhenaten, my youngest brother
persevered, he couldn't help
but to be king or not to be

Poem 3801
Amsterdam, 2021-05-10
As a baby, Crown Prince Thut-mosis (Moses) is brought into safety in the Temple of Ptah (the Creator) at Memphis in the Nile Delta
To break the power of the Amun priests, Pharaoh Amen-hotep III introduces the monotheistic worship of Aton (the sun, the abstract divine), but in 1351 BCE he is killed
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Their leader in me

There was no room for me
anymore, in this country
I was a threat

to power, fought for
by the priests and the king
against the priests, I was there

I watched it and I knew
the foreign workers wanted to leave
and the slaves were discontented

They gladly came to my temple
they believed in the Creator-god
and sought their leader in me

Together we might have
a future, the freedom
to follow our belief, to convert

our hope into deeds
and then, just to see
what comes of it

Poem 3803
Amsterdam, 2021-05-10
The calling of Moses
Crown Prince Thut-mosis (Moses) was the high priest in the temple of Ptah (the Creator) at Memphis in the Nile Delta
After the murder of their father, Echn-Aton continues the fight against the Amun priests as Pharaoh, and Moses decides to return to Canaan with the Hebrew guest workers and slaves
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Raid

Life is not too bad
compared to horror
In stories, it is fun
to get creeps, we storytellers know
it grubby well

Their oldest children died
There was famine, and they
got the most to eat
from the last stocks
with something fishy about them

of toxic fungi
That is not such an exciting story
as divine punishment or the revenge
of a bloody raid
in the night of the departure

Of course the leavers had
better things to do, in silence
not to run the risk
that someone would raise alarm
So hold your tongue and make no comments

Poem 3805
Amsterdam, 2021-05-10
The death of the firstborn
The Hebrew guest workers and slaves in the Nile Delta still had some fresh food during the famine, but the Egyptians who did not live among the fields were fully dependent on the grain that was contaminated in the barns by gnats, stable flies, and locusts, perhaps also with ergot
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Open secrets

Dreams tell a truth
that you don't want to know yet, but
on a divan, you can speak freely

to an outsider
who understands you
and explains your secrets

that everyone can see
and many whisper
shame upon it

Wealth is wasted, and
anyone who makes a comment about it will be hit
with doublespeak and disappear as penalty

for his brutal lies, his slander
and high treason; even the worst plagues
do not bring insight and humility

But sometimes, from the blue
the sense is common enough
and dreams come true

Poem 3789
Amsterdam, 2021-05-04
Dictatorial repression
Doublespeak: after Newspeak en Doublethink in "1984" by George Orwell
Joseph explains dreams (Genesis 40-41)
Trader Yuya became counselor of the Pharaohs Thut-mosis IV (1397-1388 BCE) and Amen-hotep III (1388-1351 BCE). He was an immigrant in Egypt, living in Akhmim (Upper Egypt) at the Nile, downstream of the royal city. Given the spelling of his name, he was probably the same person as Joseph, who later was added as the eleventh son on the family tree of Jacob.
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Silent arrival

It is a silent arrival
under the yoke of acquiescence
and politeness to find work
a house and a future

You look for each other
the familiar sound of the words
binds you together in the new country

like siblings, grown up
with the same habits
and the same stories

Some want to stay forever
others as long as necessary, they wait
employed by others

Time passes slowly
but one of them has success
Joseph, the undeniable symbol

of a divine plan -
the eleventh son, in hindsight
of course, the darling of the patriarch
who may have dreamed of him

Poem 3787
Amsterdam, 2021-05-04
No Departure (Exodus) without Arrival
Joseph is supposedly an afterthought (Genesis 37)
Trader Yuya was counselor of the Pharaohs Thut-mosis IV (1397-1388 BCE) and Amen-hotep III (1388-1351 BCE). He was an immigrant in Egypt, living in Akhmim (Upper Egypt) at the Nile, downstream of the royal city. Given the spelling of his name, he was probably the same person as Joseph, who later was added as the eleventh son on the family tree of Jacob.
Yuya was married to Tuya (Anath), an Egyptian noblewoman. Their daughter Tiye (born 1398 BCE) became Queen in 1388, as the wife of Amen-hotep III, and their son Ay (born 1376) became pharaoh in 1323, as the husband of Ankh-es-en-amon.
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa The insight of an outsider

He was new here, young
no threat, he was allowed
to lend a hand

To survive, he had to be worth
himself and get to know
the people in this country

There was no path mapped out for him
Nobody expected something from him
Soon he started his own business

He became rich because of the stupidity
and the self-interest of the regents
He bought up surplus harvests

and built expensive barns
to safeguard the food
against rain and vermin

He was indispensable, an authority
strengthening the dynasty
His daughter became Queen

Poem 3785
Amsterdam, 2021-05-04
Joseph stores up food supplies (Genesis 41)
Trader Yuya became counselor of the Pharaohs Thut-mosis IV (1397-1388 BCE) and Amen-hotep III (1388-1351 BCE). He was an immigrant in Egypt, living in Akhmim (Upper Egypt) at the Nile, downstream of the royal city. Given the spelling of his name, he was probably the same person as Joseph, who later was added as the eleventh son on the family tree of Jacob.
Yuya was married to Tuya (Anath), an Egyptian noblewoman. Their daughter Tiye (born 1398 BCE) became Queen in 1388, as the wife of Amen-hotep III, and their son Ay (born 1376) became pharaoh in 1323, as the husband of Ankh-es-en-amon
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Tall as our stories

Those were hard times
Some went across the border
and found work there, a new life

Later they returned
with tall stories
and everyone wanted to believe

to have been there himself - in hindsight
a whole people seemed to have
come back from the desert

The grandchildren don't know better
than that they are special
with such ancestors and the blessing

upon them - wherever
the stories came from
now they are theirs

their very own history
once and for all
their assured future

Poem 3780
Amsterdam, 2021-05-03
It's everyone's Exodus
Collection: The King
 

Zywa The storytellers

The parents of the Great Leader
are always common people
or the offspring of a famous family

The storytellers know that
so they don't nag
about the facts

They took the story
of the greatest king
in history: Sargon

"the legitimate king"
even though he came floating by
anonymously, in an ark of bulrushes

That's a good beginning
especially if you add family
- not his grandfather Joseph

but Aaron and Miriam, the leaders
of the men and the women
longing for another land

Poem 3771
Amsterdam, 2021-05-01
Sargon was king of Akkad from 2334 to 2279 BCE
Sargon = Sarru-Kinum = the king is legitimate
Jacob >> Levi >> Amram >> Aaron, Miriam "and Moses"
"Jakob" >> Joseph = Yuya, the Hebrew husband of Tuya, an Egyptian noblewoman >> Tiye, the wife of Pharaoh Amen-hotep III >> Crown Prince Thut-mosis = Moses
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Prosit (To Your Benefit)

Cheers to
paradise
my dad
his dream

Cheers to
the hills
and the asylum
during the famine

Cheers to
my beautiful wife
our children and
the distant future

Your blessings
are mine
forever
amen

Poem 3753
Amsterdam, 2021-04-26
Abraham (Genesis 12:1-2,6-7,10,14-16, 13:14-17, 15:1-5,12-21, 17:1-27, 20:11-12)
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa North Paradise

There are no guest rooms
because the land is too full
for a paradise life

The villages arm themselves
against newcomers
there is no need for them

They have to move on, to the hard soil
of the mountains, on the edge
of the North Paradise

or in a bend back
to the south, nowhere
welcome, nowhere is there enough

milk and honey, enough space
even if fields fall vacant
because of drought, smallpox, or plague

The neighbours fight for it
because the land is too full
for a paradise life

Poem 3512
Amsterdam, 2021-02-25
Terach, Abram, Sarai and Lot, 1970 BCE
Terach = wild goat, vagrant
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa One people

We wanted to go to the real paradise
Out of the delusive dream
But we were loose sand

like in the desert
And we couldn't go there
It was already occupied

We should have to fight
have to kill
people like us

So we are forged
into blood brothers, one people
of chosen under the eye

of a god with daggers
in the hands of his servants
under the paradise flag

that liberated us
from forced labour for the rich
who don't speak our language

We make detours
that walk over bodies
until we'll live there

Poem 3503
Amsterdam, 2021-02-22
Collection: The King
 

The starless star shines

brightly for the followers --


of superstition.


De sterloze sterDer Sternlose Stern
schijnt helder voor de volgers --leuchtet hell für die Folger --

van hun bijgeloof.des Aberglaubens.

Poem S1113
Amsterdam, 2020-12-21
There were three faint conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter on November 12th, 7 BCE; the moon had not yet risen, so it was clearly visible that Saturn and Jupiter appeared to stand still for hours at the tip of the zodiacal light, which seemed to be aiming at Bethlehem like a spotlight
In the fourth century CE, the bishops decided to celebrate Jesus' birthday on the day of the midwinter solstice, the pagan feast day of the Invincible Sun; in the Roman calendar, that day fell on December 25th; subsequently, the said conjunctions were interpreted as an announcement of Jesus' birth
It had been customary for centuries to link major events to an astronomical phenomenon, so the compiler(s) of the Gospel of Matthew (around 75 CE) did so as well, but without a specific reference, because none was known
Collection: The King
 

Zywa But what do they know about it?

They recorded four hundred
shekels of silver
Our grave was precious
even before we were buried

Because we are important
in the stories of our nations
But what do they know about it?

They conceal my daughters
call my sons by the name
of the countries around us

everything under the sky
they give a place
as if they were God

but their bones become brittle as well
dust like we in this cave
my wives and children

except the first one, my most loved
His ashes blew away
there on that mountain

Poem 2936
Amsterdam, 2020-04-18
Abraham about his wives and his descendants
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Dead my heart is still bleeding

Dead my heart is still bleeding
there in the burning sun
the knife, the shiny knife

in my hand and then
the gloss of his blood
for God's sake, what did I do

there on that mountain

I sold my soul to the devil
for prosperity, my nations numerous
as the stars, but not blessed

through my fault, through my grievous fault
my wife died of sorrow
I buried her in a cave

near our tents and the city
that is named after the covenant
of my madness

Forgive me God
Forgive me Sara
Forgive me my son

Poem 2930
Amsterdam, 2020-04-16
Abraham near Hebron ("Covenant") after the sacrifice on Mount Moriah
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa The angel on the mountain

It was an exciting secret
People alluded to it
especially outside the family

Guests sometimes did too
Yes, if that hadn't happened back then
there on that mountain...

But I couldn't
tell my children
I wanted to be a good father

and say
that their grandfather regretted
his plan and untied his son again

because because
an angel appeared
an angel of God

but I found that too complicated
so I just left out the regret
Only the angel remained

Poem 2932
Amsterdam, 2020-04-16
Jacob's story about his half brother Isaac
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa There on that mountain

The deed was too horrible
no father would do such a thing
no god would ask such a thing

and if he should ask it
he wouldn't allow it
if he is the true god

The boy had to stay alive
happily ever after, the oldest
patriarch of all

With his half-brother Ishmael
he was given a place
between the great names

of his father and the twins
Esau and Jacob, the youngest half-brothers
who could pass for his sons

Furthermore, we don't know
anything about him, his short life
he was still a child

there on that mountain

Poem 2934
Amsterdam, 2020-04-16
    This passage (an angel restrains Abraham from slaughtering his son) was added later to whitewash the atrocity
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa The House

I inhale the old scent, the holiness
of incense and curtains, mysteriously
soft candlelight and behind it the promise

of strength, miracles and happiness

Brick by brick, canvas by canvas
we restored the House, for eight days
it continued to burn, the oil

of strength, miracles and happiness

This is what we fought for
have been defeated for, year after year
this is what we won for, with seven arms

of strength, miracles and happiness

Poem 2350
Amsterdam, 2019-07-07
Hannukah = "Dedication"
Jerusalem, 164 BCE
Collection: The King
 

Zywa With stories we build a nation

With stories we build a nation
out of separate villages, we clench the years
together to a proof of divine power:

the crossing of the border river
the access town with trumpet blasts
destroyed forever, the country cleaned
from high to low, in one sweep
like a dinner plate

With stories I justify
myself and the past afterwards
plans for the future included

Daily, words bind us
together to a nation state
If we were silent, that would be the end
also if we would dare
to tell the truth

of the people who lived here before us

Poem 2349
Amsterdam, 2019-07-07
Entry into Palestine under Joshua ("JHWH is Salvation")
13
Israel since 1947
Collection: The King
 

Zywa The Liberator

The winter is over, the men want action
like rams without ewes and without a shepherd
By the fishing lake, I promise to be their king

It takes a fortune, rows of carts
bring bread and fish every day
the campaign begins, we march
through the outer regions

On the Mount of Anointment near the capital
we camp under the olive trees
The saint pours a golden crown of oil
over my head, it is my best birthday

I address the men: It is near!
And my enemies, who do not want me
bring them here and slay them before me!

Poem 2352
Amsterdam, 2019-07-07
Jesus (Galilee, Jerusalem) in the year 30 CE
Jesus = "JHWH is rescue"
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Great Grand

Great Grandgrandma, why
did you leave the waterland?
Wasn't there enough space

for your cattle, between the full fields?
What dreams did you have? Mine
are thin, like translucent down

My bed is hard, I drag
water and firewood
and the men can't help but

raid, unrest is boiling
in the blood of my sons
If only they come home unscathed

with a gram of gold for the danger
of the promise of the land
from which hunger drove you away

The shine of their swords
clotted, thick walls conquered
cities and kings, who knows

they were bushes, caves
and huts, village heads, the loot
some cattle and a few girls

No land of cows and tulips
where the grass is always green and sweet
the honey of the young years

when you lived in paradise

Poem 2348
Amsterdam, 2019-07-06
Thinking of Sarai, who departed from Ur on the Euphrates, via northern Mesopotamia to Goshen on the Nile, the three paradise regions for nomads)
Conquests led by Joshua
Collection: The King
 

Zywa I am an apple tree

Down in the yarrow
princes and princesses eat
the green, yellow, and red apples
(toddlers get apple sauce)

Teachers share them all day
they ask questions and practise
answers, always something new
under the sun, and then we sleep
under the moon and the stars

From childhood I hang
my branches full of apples
until they can't hold the weight
and collapse under the burden
or break from old age

Yes, I have grown old
Searching for connections
I get lost more and more often
(and I eat apple sauce again)

Poem 2343
Amsterdam, 2019-07-05
Tree of the knowledge of good and evil
Collection: Silent walk
 

Zywa The Words (Do it)

Remember only the good, repeat it
day after day, all your life
Always make a new start, do it
thoroughly, forget old thoughts
get out of their way to save yourself

Kill them if there is no other way
Your sons, brothers and neighbours
kill them and leave them
for vultures and hyenas
It has to be that way

Not out of cruelty, not out of blood thirst
but because what they believe does not exist
so their lives don't matter
Your dagger does not judge them
but it executes the Words

Read them, read them aloud
Sow fear and obedience
Expecting
eternal punishment
is wisdom! insight!

Poem 2340
Amsterdam, 2019-07-04
Moses brings down the Ten Words from Mount Horeb, after which the people travel around Tabuk; there, Levites kill the unbelievers of the people
Syria (ar-Raqqa 2014)
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Walking hourglass

To graze the livestock I move
from oasis to oasis, lugging

a huge hourglass, a tower
on wheels, and I count

grain after grain
until the time runs out, I count

down my despondency:
what shall I have achieved

as an old man? Only that I myself
am an hourglass in the desert

with grains of happiness: family
some friends and the beauty

of the starry sky, a cup
of clear water, a safe night

and sometimes the godsend
of a quail or some honey

Poem 2333
Amsterdam, 2019-07-03
Exodus (40 years in the desert)
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Along the road

Along the road stands an angel
with wild hair and a mouth full
of astonishment, an angel of stone:

mother, you stayed behind
you've seen too much
of the carbon black sky

The ground shook at night, the door
rattled with angry neighbours. Go away!
father cried. What do you want?

My daughters? Shall I send them?
They are still virgins. He called us
but quickly quickly we left the city

that was stoned then
We no longer have friends
Next year we would get married

Poem 2336
Amsterdam, 2019-07-03
Lot, the son of Abraham's brother Haran, and his family flee Sodom
(See also Judges 19:22-29)
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Snake-charmer

Temple officials have the land
They made it great, but now they let it
fall, into pieces of their own; my friends
are way too expensive friends

Out of caution father gave me
away after my nursing years
to Egypt, the temple in the delta

and when the dynasty seemed lost
because the Ethiopians advanced
the priests thought they were smart
in appointing me as the army commander

But I took the sacred birds
with me in baskets, in the desert
they bit the vipers at our feet to death

We surprised the enemy in his sleep
hit him in its naked flanks
and we have won; the temple
cobras arose again

Poem 2331
Amsterdam, 2019-07-02
Prince Djhut-mose / Thut-mose = son of Thoth (Djhut) = Moses, high priest in the temple of Ptah at Memphis in the Nile Delta; this temple is called 'Egypt' = Home of the Creator
hwt k3 pth = home of the kaa (soul) of Ptah (the Maker)
hwt k3 pth >> hi-ku-ptah >> ai-gu-ptos >> Egypt
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa The light shines in darkness

We are expats, migrant workers
men who are stuck and dream
of a free life

as shepherds and cattle lords, a land
of our own, grassy meadows
milk and honey - the old promise

Here in the delta, we work
under foreign authority, longing
for the beautiful girls of the north

Only in the stories do we feel at home:
of the ancient god who created the world
with thoughts from his heart, living
words from his mouth, the Potter
who moulded man

Stories
that knead our souls, giving light
when it is dark in our hearts
full of old ashes, in which the fire
of the Destroyer still glows

Poem 2327
Amsterdam, 2019-07-01
Prince Djhut-mose / Thut-mose (the eldest son of Amen-hotep III) = "son of Djhut" / "Son of Thoth", abbreviated: Moses, high priest in the temple of Ptah at Memphis in the Nile Delta
The ancient god: Ptah = Maker (of the world)
El Shaddai = God the Destroyer
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa And the darkness has not understood

Goodbye little sister, you are the prettiest
No one will ever be more beautiful
You put on a brave face
You leave us the tears

Goodbye brother, I haven't been a high priest
since father abolished the gods
and now that he has been murdered
heaven rests

completely on you, as he wished
you'll be the king of the River
You'll make the Sun shine bright, like I
will make it shine on the coast

where I will bring back the people
of grandfather, goodbye dear Mum
You will lead the family
You are strong, you are the wisest

of us all, we children
of the Light that shines all over
the earth, and the darkness
has not understood

Poem 2326
Amsterdam, 2019-07-01
Crown Prince Thut-mosis = son of Thoth, abbreviated: Moses, is the brother of Echn-Aton and the half-brother of Nefertiti; he was the high priest in the temple of Ptah at Memphis in the Nile Delta, but his father, pharaoh Amen-hotep III replaced the traditional gods such as Amun and Ptah with Aton (the sun, the abstract divine)
Grandfather: on the mother's side, the Hebrew Yuya (=Joseph, who later was added as the eleventh son on the family tree of Jacob), the father of Tiye, who was the wife of Pharaoh Amen-hotep III
In 1351 BCE Amen-hotep III was murdered by priests of Amun, but Echn-Aton hold on to the new cult
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa If they want a god of thunder and fire, they can have one

We left at the right time
the future was open
relatives welcomed us

They shared the loot
and everyone knew for sure
who led them: the Destroyer
from their smarting past

So I go up the mountain
and I stay away for a long time
to make something tangible
as a gift from their god

I tell them
that He has shown Himself to me
as a light, brighter than the sun
blinding to anyone who would look

the Supreme Being
of which I am the high priest
with a half-name in the service
of the half-believers whom I lead

because better to endure
than an open wound
is a half-truth

Poem 2310
Amsterdam, 2019-06-27
Under the leadership of Moses (Thut-mosis), the remigrants travel in Hejaz and Edom
They: Moses has a Hebrew grandmother, but he was Egyptian, the eldest son of the Pharaoh, who was succeeded by Moses' brother Echn-Aton
God appears on the Horeb, in Tabuk, the northern region of Hejaz, in a burning thornbush (Exodus 3: 2), and on the Sinai in light flashes (Exodus 19:16, 20:18) and a blazing fire (Exodus 19:18, 24:17)
El Shaddai = God Destroyer
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa The caravans tell

This year's caravans tell
   that the Great Queen is buried
   with great honour, oh, mama
   without me

This year's caravans tell
   that the Sun King is ill
   his wife too, and people whisper

   that the gods are punishing them
   that they are just humans
   that everyone knows what comes

   of inbreeding, oh little brother
   oh my dear sister, hard
   is your destiny, the Sun is too high

   too far from our family, here as well
   in the middle country where I got
   stuck with the returnees

This year's caravans tell
   that the Sun has been bannished
   from the name of the king

   that he is pale and feverish, with a club
   foot and the backbone of a snake
   pushing itself forward with a stick

   My nephew – I don't know you, people say
   that you are as beautiful as Nefertiti was –
   I pray heaven to take pity on you

This year's caravans tell
   that the queen-widow only
   has her grandfather to marry her

   The king of the north doesn't answer
   her letter, her request for a man next to her
   on the throne that cannot be saved

Poem 2311
Amsterdam, 2019-06-27
1338 BCE Queen Tiye dies; she is the mother of Moses (Thut-mosis)
1334 BCE Sun King Echn-Aten, Moses' brother, dies
1330 BCE Pharaoh Tut-ankh-Aten, Moses' nephew, changes his name to Tut-ankh-Amon; Nefertiti is their half-sister
1323 BCE Ankh-es-en-Amon, the wife of Tuth-ankh-Amon and the grand-daughter of sister and brother Tiye and Ay, writes to King Suppiluliuma I of Hatti: "My husband died and I have no sons. Allegedly you have many sons. You could give me one of your sons as a husband. I would not marry any of my subjects."
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Ulu ulu

A liberation is hard work
and you must be lucky, like when
we left under the sign - the plume
of smoke, a pillar of fire in the night -
and got hopelessly stuck

between the army and the dividing sea
We became scared, didn't want to die
and walked on, the water was low
it almost fell dry - Ahead, forward
To the other side

At dawn the chariots came
after us, down the steep bank
with horsemen and lancers, elated
to have caught up with us and eager
to murder and rape

But to our amazement the water took
them by surprise, a tidal wave, fast
and higher than ever, engulfed them
Miriam took the drum
the women danced and sang

Ulu ulu ulu ulu
We live! we live!
We escaped!
After all these years
we did it!

Joseph's bones rattled for joy

Poem 2308
Amsterdam, 2019-06-26
Genesis 50:28, Exodus 13:19,21, 14:11
The name Miriam means: Beloved of Amon; her father was Pharaoh Amen-hotep III; her brother Thut-mosis (Moses) was the crown prince; Joseph was their maternal grandfather
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Capital affairs

It's a serious matter
men on the river discussing
and tasting the revolution

The cavalry comes
to arrest the saint
and imprisons him far away

There is a party in that fort
it's the king's birthday
a girl is dancing

She warms up the men
with her naked belly
and has to do a wish

She does not know what to do
and seeks protection with her mother
who asks the head of the saint

Apart from his body, it is
handed over at night
to his followers who sing

of revolution and stand upright
without the foot of the king
in their backs

Poem 2302
Amsterdam, 2019-06-25
John the Baptist (Perea, Palestine, in the year 29 CE)
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Happiness is a bird

He lived in prosperity
and wished to make a contract
with his god to keep it that way

because he still made sacrifices
without certainty what he would get in return
knowing that happiness is a bird

that chooses itself where to rest
and which babies to feed
He was afraid

that it would fly away
and decided to make an extra sacrifice
of his entire household

All men and boys had to
conform to his will and
the rainbow sealed it

Poem 2303
Amsterdam, 2019-06-25
Abraham
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Lions

Fighting is moaning and pulling
swords from the corpses, wet
sandals, red feet washed
in blood, and that it takes hours

to clean the square and the palace
at night and still
be chased out of the city

Fighting is turning odds
not giving up, but coming up
with a ruse, a wooden horse
a Münchhausen or a tunnel

entering the closed city
of the king with hundreds
through the shaft to the water castle

Fighting is attacking again
and again, shouting, hewing
and clawing as lions
over growing mountains

of the dead, because It Is At Hand
even though we withdraw
It Is At Hand as long as we live

Poem 2298
Amsterdam, 2019-06-24
Juda(s) - Jerusalem in the year 30 CE
2 Samuel 5:7-8, Psalm 58:11, 68:23-24
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Judgement

What's in the stars
up there in the night sky above
the city wall and the screams

of the warriors in the square?
Here it is quiet, we fall asleep
but my love hears the dagger men

coming and he calls us awake: Near!
the surrender of the city is near!
The Lion embraces him dearly

before the horsemen surround him
mutilate him and take him away
The warriors flee, fight

themselves to death in the neck
at the well. It was near, it's over
I no longer have a home

only hiding places in the night

My love, what will they do to you
where are you, where is the judgment
that will free you?

Poem 2299
Amsterdam, 2019-06-24
Maria Magdalene (Jerusalem, on the night of April 6 to 7, 30 CE)
Luke 22:38, Matthew 27:8
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Foxes

No glowing storm from the desert
no seething wrath from heaven
no dawn in the east

only the mighty army
that kills us as rebels
and throws us with the bones

of criminals and losers in the pit
Has anyone prayed and begged
to spare a few righteous people?

Is the city spared for those few?
We who have escaped take shelter
in our right, where we weep
and honour the dead

whose trust has been betrayed. Why?
I cannot sleep, I breathe questions
but don't hear any answers

I listen, listen to me as well
be merciful and answer me
look for me as I am looking for You

do not hide, do not reject me
help me, do not turn me down
do not leave me, abide with me

Poem 2300
Amsterdam, 2019-06-24
High priest Simon 'Peter' (Jerusalem in the year 30 CE)
Lamentations 5:17-18, Jeremiah 4:11-13,26, Genesis 18:32, Job 34:5, Psalm 22:2, 27:7-9
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Warrants and soldiers

Often it was their happy piety
sometimes their excessive caution
or the cheeky look in their eyes
I knew where to find them

as if I could smell them
the confessers, simmering
at the cauldron in their small homes
I filled the dungeons with them

They don't want to accept the facts
and prefer to fantasize
about a divine intervention
They are superstitious and rebellious

I know the laws better than they do
and I acted as a free man
without burden or consultation
With warrants and soldiers

Until I heard clearly: Stop.
It's me. Don't go any further.
Listen. And do as I say.
Please send someone else

I replied
I couldn't see anymore
what I should, what should I
do, in God's name?

Poem 2294
Amsterdam, 2019-06-23
Conversion of Saul in the year 38 CE
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Foolishness

It's a command from above
otherwise I wouldn't take
the trouble, because life is short
and I want to enjoy it

without fear, without despair
and without wishes, so
I must, I may and I can
believe in a happy end

And: there are a few witnesses
who know what they saw
which we repeat among ourselves
as factual truth

It makes our concerns and worries
unimportant and puts our actions
into perspective, ultimately
God is incomprehensible

Poem 2295
Amsterdam, 2019-06-23
Paul in the year 38 CE
Foolishness: 1 Corinthians 1:18
Command: Acts 26:17-18
Enjoy: 1 Corinthians 15:32
Witnesses: 1 Corinthians 15:5-8
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Where are the birds?

It is so quiet outside, never again
will he stand in the loggia, never again
will he look at me, never again

never again will he touch me

I could not sleep, I returned
at the first light to wash and embalm him
his spirit was gone

he was no longer where he lay
and I knelt, embraced his body
and wept the cold cloths wet

His arms were strong as pillars
with bare hands
he could tear a lion to pieces

all the women loved him, they had no rest
walked down the streets and squares
always passing his house

They tossed and dreamed
of his black hair
they grabbed him and did not let go

they wanted to lie in his shadow, put his head
between their breasts, eat honey from his hand
and introduce him to their mother

but he chose me, all night
we made love in the open air
in the sweet scents of pomegranates

The winter and the rains were over
shrubs and trees were blossoming
and birds sang all over the country

Poem 2297
Amsterdam, 2019-06-23
Maria Magdalena (Jerusalem in the year 30 CE)
Song of songs (Song of Solomon)
Judges 14:5,16:29
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Master illusionist

Miracles are a miraculous belief
in a higher power, fed by the leaders
for the good of the people

There are still eyewitnesses here
ignorant of the truth
of other witnesses

honest people who also
survived the disaster
of the volcanic eruption

that buried Knossos and
destroyed the fleet, but
their voices do not reach far

outside the harbour towns
not into the country
where shepherds roam

and peasants kneel
sacrificing to the gods
of their grandparents and believing

in their own grand stories, clever
combinations of old events
and precious memories

half-truths, healed
by omitting parts, accrediting some
and by diverting attention

It is the tradition, sanctified
by the master illusionist
who the leaders collectively are

Poem 2296
Amsterdam, 2019-06-23
Moses, Aaron, Joshua
Eruption of the Thera on Santorini, c. 1600 BCE
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Straw for everyone

Only now that I come back here
I see it as a paradise, this green land
the flowers, the golden grain
all the riches I thought to be normal

Now, the familiar overwhelms
my new eyes, filling me
with nostalgia even before
I think about leaving

Or will I stay for the rest
of my life, knowing very well
that it is soulheart work
to sleep together

wolf people and sheep people
cow, bear, and snake people
It is heartwork in paradise
for enough straw for everyone

Poem 2284
Amsterdam, 2019-06-19
Collection: Secrets & Believers
 

Zywa Goat heart

A wild goat lived in his heart
dreaming of paradise
so he decided to go there
and it was larger than imagined

For weeks, he looked
for the most beautiful place
to live, until one day
he approached the border, a wall

of mountains, and their weight filled
his legs, he could go no further
and stayed where he was
without answer

when his son asked if this
was it, the best, and they
of all people the happiest
here in paradise

Poem 2228
Amsterdam, 2019-04-26
Terach and Abram, 1970 BCE
Terach = wild goat, wanderer
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Careful for the thorns

Quickly, he runs down the stairs
to the budding rose bush
at the gate of the barracks

He cuts a bed of shoots
around his sandals and braids
– careful for the thorns –
a wreath of twigs

for the captive king
He will feel this crown
We'll hit it in his skull

Then we'll finish him
Maybe that will teach them
and we'll finally get rid of them

Poem 2210
Amsterdam, 2019-04-17
Crown of thorns
A Roman soldier in Jerusalem (Friday April 7th, 30 CE)
Collection: The King
 

Zywa The night is over

Just in time, order has been restored
but it has cost me many soldiers
What a night, the men are exhausted
They hope and wish it's over
but the day breaks, now

the execution, the exhibition
of the king and his commanders
What a sight he is
in his expensive clothes
with a diagonal bandage

around his head as a royal crown
stumbling through the narrow streets
Today the cheers are mine, with the wailing
of the women and the elderly
the horror on everyone's face:

What have they done? Is it really him?

Poem 2209
Amsterdam, 2019-04-17
Pontius Pilatus (Jerusalem, Friday April 7th, 30 CE)
Luke 23:27, John 18:10
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Father Of Many

O sweet promise! I am eternally
blessed, and threatened with the
extermination of my descendants
if they become disobedient
and retain their foreskin

In the darkest nights
of my doubts, I lie down
on a warm stone under the stars
to see how innumerable many
people will be born

I dream of a great family
a multitude of nations
even though my son is a wild ass
fighting against all
And all fight against him

Poem 2173
Amsterdam, 2019-03-22
Abram = Exalted father, High father
Abraham = Father of many
Ishmael was his only son for many years, growing up into a wild man (Genesis 16:12)
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Freedom fighters

In years of hunger
we workers on the land
long for a good sign

to return
to a free existence
and it has come

Thunder and darkness
The high lords mock
That is what happens!

They let us go
without cattle, we laugh
in their face and stay

supposedly
We secretly pack
go through the villages at night

kill a child in every house
and point with the blood knives
at the gold and silver

as our wages for years
After a quick meal, we leave
a long caravan of wagons and cattle

We make it to the Sea of Reeds
before the army comes and
it begins to hail real stones

Doubters start to moan

Poem 2166
Amsterdam, 2019-03-20
Exodus led by Moses
Collection: A Home
 

The world is asking

Love your neighbour as yourself --


It is the answer.


De wereld vraagt: HebDie Welt fragt: liebe
je naaste lief als jezelf --deinen Nächsten wie dich selbst --

Het is het antwoord.Es ist die Antwort.

Poem H2412
Amsterdam, 2019-03-17
Leviticus 19:18
Collection: Froend
 

I don't know you, but

the evening is falling, stay --


and abide with me.


Ik ken je niet, maarIch kenne dich nicht,
de avond valt al, blijf toch --aber der Abend fällt schon --

liever hier bij mij.Bleibe noch mit mir.

Poem H2410
Amsterdam, 2019-03-12
Collection: Dearme
 

Zywa The Beast

For keeps, the mountain is caught
in the stranglehold of the snake
and the city too, the whole country

Along the sea, its tail lashes
with thunders, craters of hellfire
into the earth, it roars and howls

fears of death into our breath at night
it shatters our grasshopper heads
on the cobblestones, each and every one

It doesn't like me, it only eats
the land on which I live, it encloses
and stuns me like a cockroach
that keeps sliding back in the bottle

and cannot escape from dreams
of lost freedom and the villages
wiped away and smoothed
by its long snake stomach

There is no land left for the dead
They are buried under our beds
Tell me, how can I sleep like this
waiting for a miracle
waiting for death?

Poem 2125
Amsterdam, 2019-02-25
Palestine (5-10 June 1967 - Six-Day War)
Collection: Short Sermons
 

Zywa Smaller me

The narrow path is better
I learn from the adults
who complain and go
the broad roads with ease

It's not that simple
as you will learn, they sigh
this is the real world
not the true one, we know that

too well. Cheaters
I think, I don't go along
with that, you walk around
the old treadmills without me

with justdo's mustdo's don'tdo's
the enemies, who are allies
in the weak steps of vice
on which no police is ventured

for one shouldn't be naive
The whole world participates
That's how we small me's
have come where we are and

we have a loved one who wants
to live in an ordinary house
with ordinary children. Traitor
I think, there is no worse

Poem 2090
Amsterdam, 2019-02-14
Collection: Secrets & Believers
 

Zywa The Promised Land

It is a fact, not a favour, to be born
outside a ghetto, wasteland or slum town:

no one should reprove me
for not having cultivated the field myself
not having paved the roads and eating fruit
from trees that I have not planted

It is a fact, no a fault, to be born
inside a ghetto, wasteland or slum town:

no one should reprove me
for having come here
on roads that I haven't paved
to work in other people's fields

and to eat the fruit
of trees that I have not planted

Poem 1992
Amsterdam, 2018-12-15
Collection: The King
 

Knowing and doing

what you want is the broad way --


the difficult way.


Weten en doen watAuszuführen, was
je wilt, is het brede pad --man will, ist der breite Weg --

het moeilijke pad.der schwierige Weg.

Poem H2318
Amsterdam, 2018-11-05
Hear my voice now (Franca Treur) - 2017
Novel "Hoor nu mijn stem", chapter 24
Matthew 7:13-14 Enter through the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many enter through it; but small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it
Collection: Appearances
Tribute to: Treur, Franca 
 

Zywa Believe, hope and pray

As a child I believed
in God and eternal life
but the adults were doubting

They believe and hope -
in full awareness
of their shortcomings -

and they pray
to be truthful -
from time to time afraid

that their good deeds are not
diamonds in God's omniscience
but stains of hypocrisy

on their finest clothes
for the royal wedding feast
to which they are bidden

like wanderers, without merit
anxious whether God will cover
their souls in grace in time

Poem 1891
Amsterdam, 2018-10-31
Collection: The King
 

Zywa The way

Funnily enough there are rules
Really, people are funny
not reasonable and unreasonable

enough to think
that laws are necessary (don't steal
don't kill, fulfill contracts)

while it is so simple:
we live and we do
not live alone, so

what you do not want
to undergo, don't do that
to anyone else

That is the way
of the truthful, the unrecorded
truth and the unrecorded

life
It is all
the only

prayer, your security
and duty, the only rule
of love and reason

Poem 1874
Amsterdam, 2018-10-18
Collection: The King
 

I must be chosen,

just have a look at my life:


pain and misfortune.


Mijn uitverkiezingIch bin auserwählt,
lees ik af aan mijn leven:schau dir nur mein Leben an:

pech en tegenspoed.Pech und Missgeschick.

Poem S0800
Amsterdam, 2018-10-02
A happy smile (Andreas Burnier) - 1965
Novel "Een tevreden lach", chapter 'IJs' (Ice)
Collection: Unseen
Tribute to: Burnier, Andreas 
 

Cain's jealousy was

steaming, still young, but his arm --


was already raised.


Kaïn's jaloezieKains Eifersucht
dampte nog, zo jong, maar zijn --war dampfend jung, und sein Arm --

arm ging al omhoog.erhob sich bereits.

Poem H2240
Amsterdam, 2018-06-28
Jealousy was young (Toon Tellegen) - 1997
Poem "De jaloezie was jong" (collection "Over liefde en over niets anders")
Collection: Perhaps / Some day / Occasionally / Almost
Tribute to: Tellegen, Toon 
 

Zywa Failed theology

For centuries I have thought
about everything
I don't understand
and there's no choice

for it but to reveal itself
from time to time
I Exist, it says
and it says no more

You can't make an image of it
Sometimes people are jealous of that
because they áre jealous
They impute it to I Exist

It is a failed theology
and therefore persistently
It is our image and likeness
No one is allowed to touch it

It could break down
and then you have nothing left
to hide yourself
for I Exist

Poem 1791
Amsterdam, 2018-06-12
Collection: Secrets & Believers
 

Zywa Peace and Reason

Were the rain and the flood
a punishment for Eve
and our frank reason, that does
not always do the right thing?

Or are we using that reason
just too little, like when
my husband was lenient with our son
and got angry with the baby?

What had come over him? He is old
and worried about the world
since the disaster, where all eight of us
have been spared

Let us just forget his words
just lead a good life
and found a city of peace
as the centre of the whole world

Poem 1779
Amsterdam, 2018-06-01
Noah hears from his sons Shem and Japheth that their brother Ham has raped their mother Emzara, and when Canaan is born from this, he curses the baby
All eight: Noah, his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives were spared during the flood
Jerusalem, city of peace in the land of Canaan
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa For all people

How I misjudged
the truth
I believed, I believed

I knew after years
of study and sharpening
on everyday practice

In retrospect it seems so logical
that the commandments do not only
apply to the chosen ones

The Force is
greater than everything
for all people

Since the corpse has been stolen
that vain desecration that sought
to prevent the consecration

there are witnesses that he is
still among us, we too are mortal
but we'll live forever

Poem 1772
Amsterdam, 2018-05-29
Creed, confession of faith
Collection: The King
 

Zywa I know their kind

He was young and fanatical
he risked his life
to be king

not like his father
in name only
on the border

but in David's house
to make the old stories
come true again

with the united Force
of the faithful, the votaries
and the dagger-men, to

saturate the streets of the city
the plains of the shepherds
and the fields of the farmers

with faith
no longer banished
within private houses

and thoughts, but piety
in the country, I know them
their kind won't give up in ages

Poem 1768
Amsterdam, 2018-05-27
The Liberator ('Jesus', the Nazarene [Votary], born 5 BCE) committed a revolt against Roman authority in April of the year 30 CE
Paul (born 20 BCE), as an authorised Pharisee, hunted down the rebellious Jews who had marched with Jesus
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Whatever happens

In Ephesus, people once said
that as believers they must
love one another

and that has become
the core of Christianity -
detached

from Jewish history, and
without realising that a person
must first love himself

before he is capable
of being of service, of helping
neighbours, and giving them more

than good advice and more
than the prospect that there
will eventually be justice

For peace on earth, more is needed

than a cheek: accepted

laws and enforcers

Poem 1766
Amsterdam, 2018-05-26
1 John 3:11, 4:7,21
Johannite insertion of 1 Corinthians 13
Christian theology originated c. 100 CE in the religious community in Ephesus (south of Izmir), of which three movements are known:
[1] Jewish mission theology (Hebrews),
[2] Anti-Jewish missionary theology, which supplements letter fragments from Paul with anti-Jewish and pro-Roman phrases, in response to the very extensive and rigorous extermination of the Jews in the Roman Empire (Epistles, Acts),
[3] Johannite theology that is philosophical and focuses on knowledge plus love
Collection: The King
 

Zywa The hand

Confidently, I hunted down
mentally ill people
It was an epidemic
of credulity

in the empty promise
of a place in heaven
and a heaven on earth
I placed them in quarantine

but they were stubborn
and that gnawed at my zeal
It darkened the light
in my head, so that I fell

The sun spun, clenched
in the hand that pointed at me

to go and risk my life
with my nicest words

Poem 1758
Amsterdam, 2018-05-15
The conversion of Saul, who, with his knowledge as a scripturalist, was a know-it-all
Collection: The King
 

All stories are true,

somewhere in the world, and here --


they may happen too.


Elk verhaal is waar,Jede Geschichte
ergens ter wereld, en hier --ist wahr, irgendwo, und hier --

had het ook gekund.ist es auch möglich.

Poem S0700
Amsterdam, 2018-05-06
The Bible for unbelievers - The story of Abiga-il (Guus Kuijer) - 2015
"De Bijbel voor ongelovigen - Het verhaal van Abiga-il" - Abigail, the second wife of king David
Collection: Chance
Tribute to: Kuijer, Guus 
 

It's the love of men:

obedient to witches --


longing for a friend.


Mannen en liefde:Männer und Liebe:
ze gehoorzamen heksen --sie folgen Hexen, wollen --

maar willen een vriend.aber einen Freund.

Poem S0699
Amsterdam, 2018-05-05
The Bible for unbelievers - The story of Abiga-il (Guus Kuijer) - 2015
"De Bijbel voor ongelovigen - Het verhaal van Abiga-il" - Abigail, the second wife of king David, about his friend Jonathan and his first wife Bathsheba
Collection: Chance
 

Zywa House of the Sun

They have seen too much:
the chest, the outside
of the secret, because a secret

has no outside
only by definition
a concealed content

Even though it didn't interest them
even though they didn't look at it
but were dancing, it is too much

If nothing would be done
it will end in stories
about a chest and nothing

that was palpable, no Force
that creates and destroys and
no sacred silence

So the priests do have to
surprise the witnesses in their sleep
in the dead of night

with a a hand on their mouth
and a quick slit in their throat
everywhere in the field

red spots of providence

Poem 1740
Amsterdam, 2018-04-30
1000 BCE, Beth Shemesh
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Guilty

We know the story
of the great flood
as punishment from God

It was once only
He has promised, He gives
other punishments since then

and like Job and Franz K
believers believe
they are always guilty

and should be happy
that they're alive and
that God does not crush them

Yet God doesn't need servants
but people
do need each other

With faith, that is
the only thing
they can be guilty of

Poem 1730
Amsterdam, 2018-04-25
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Mark of Cain

The oldest sons count
as patriarchs from Adam
Seth and Enos to Methuselah

Cain is a different story
from a time when there were more people
more women to get married

It is the story of the sacrifice
that was rejected
as if God did not exist

so that Cain lost his faith
and mourned for that
and God was sorry

so He forbade to kill him
and other unbelievers
you shall not kill a human being

Moses chiselled in two stones
which he smashed immediately
to teach the people a lesson

with the seething murder
of 3000 men, the blood sticks
to the priests forever

but they had every right
because God wanted
to do it Himself

Poem 1728
Amsterdam, 2018-04-24
The name Abel is related to ablu (son), and abal (mourning)
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa Hell

There are two Hells
outside the walls
yonder at the source

Children went through fire
for their parents there, knowing and afraid
not to be able to make it to the end

sacrificed as the most precious
that a person can give
to his kinglike god

And on the field of blood at the narrowness
the insurgents fought
themselves to death for their new king

clinging
to the first rays of the sun
while the light in their eyes was fading

and their blood embittered
the water from the spring
for everyone who knew

Poem 1726
Amsterdam, 2018-04-23
MLK = Moloch = King, the god (Lev. 18:21, 20:1,3,4, 2 Kings 17:17, 23:10, Jeremiah 32:35)
MLK = Malchus = King, the king of the Jews (John 18:10)
Valley of Hinnom = Ge-Hinnom = Gehenna = Hell (Matthew 5:21-23), from the source Ein Rogel to the west; in this valley was the Tophet (from Tephet = fire stack), where children were sacrificed
The Field of Blood (Matthew 27:8) is the western slope of red clay in the valley of the Kidron, north of the source Ein Rogel
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Ibrim Abram

Dad is crazy, little brother too, to some extend
but the oldest and I are just normal
itinerants like grandpa Terach
from the stories, men

no paupers
like other ibrim

We don't need gods
we are not farmers, no musers
who want to become that
dreaming of land of their own

believing in the Force
of their desire

El Shaddai, Almighty God
dad calls it, little brother fought with it
and they made a deal: total respect
for the Force, land for them

Instead of using their brains
they believe, blindly

Poem 1724
Amsterdam, 2018-04-22
Ibrim = Habiru = Hebrews, "Itinerants"/"Nomads" >> The Hebrew Abram, Ibrim Abram
Esau, son of Abraham and Rebecca
Isma-El, oldest son of Abraham (and Hagar)
Jacob "Isra-El" = "God rules", thus: total respect
Collection: A Home
 

Zywa The prophet

Once again God has compassion
with the people, and with all their cattle

Here I stand, the prophet
of the doom that doesn't come

the prophet of a god who doesn't want
to be defined

by unbelievers
their fault and punishment

Cain, Sodom, Nineveh
the itinerant men

with women who desire
a home with a garden

Their fault, their fault
the most grievous fault

of their judgment, the crosses
of their actions and their looking away

A fault which you cannot sell
for some money, nor for a truth

with a salvation and comfort
for those with whom God is pleased

Poem 1721
Amsterdam, 2018-04-21
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Little blood trunks

The big boat, belly full of colour
bodies, floated up to the clouds
no longer moves around
the high mountain
which begins to grow down

Like a seed capsule, it snaps open
fertilises the slopes with blood
from the old world, with codes
of the secret of life
freshly written

going to travel over the earth
as little arks, swimming arks
crawling, walking, and flying arks
little blood trunks
full of prehistory

of the world
the real world
not the true one
that mankind
would create

Poem 1684
Amsterdam, 2018-02-18
Noah's Ark
Colour bodies: chromosomes
Collections: A Home, BloodTrunk 
 

Zywa Red heart line

Prosperity with obedience:
is that the plan for man?
A family following the father
like the fathers their father?

Or is it a covenant
of uncircumcised love?
One heart, living
flesh and blood?

One heart, one blood
of man and woman
that draws a red line
not to be trespassed

Let's come together
in one heart!
Let's celebrate life
in one song!

Poem 1680
Amsterdam, 2018-02-15
Song (1977, Bob Marley)
Collection: The King
Tribute to: Marley, Bob 
 

Zywa After the fall

After my fall
I no longer knew the truth
of my book learning

After that fall
I fled forward blindly
to find light
in my ignorance

After the fall
of my convictions
I am now convinced
that I am small

with the great commission
to proclaim the great revelation
to everyone

Poem 1677
Amsterdam, 2018-02-14
Paul experiences God's presence during an epileptic seizure (in the year 38 CE)
Later, the name Paul was incorrectly related to the Greek word paulos (= small)
Collection: The King
 

In Nod, Cain has found

a wife, one of the daughters --


of Adam's neighbours.


In Nod vond KaïnKain fand eine
een vrouw, een van de dochters --Frau in Nod, eine Tochter --

van Adam's buren.von Adams Nachbarn.

Poem H2025
Amsterdam, 2018-02-07
The Bible for Nonbelievers - The Beginning. Genesis (Guus Kuijer) - 2012
De Bijbel voor ongelovigen - Het begin. Genesis - Cain - Adam as 'the first man', the patriarch
Collection: Chance
Tribute to: Kuijer, Guus 
 

Knowing the danger,

it's a big mystery why --


no one takes action.


Mensen kennen hetMenschen kennen die
gevaar, het is een raadsel --Gefahr, es ist ein Rätsel --

waarom ze niets doen.warum sie nichts tun.

Poem S0675
Amsterdam, 2018-02-07
The Bible for unbelievers - The beginning, Genesis (Guus Kuijer) - 2012
"De Bijbel voor ongelovigen - Het begin, Genesis - Het verhaal van Cham" ("The story of Ham") - Noah prepares for a flood
Collection: Chance
Tribute to: Kuijer, Guus 
 

The word God started

everything, it is the word


for all, for nothing.


Het woord God is hetAlles begann mit
begin van alles, dit woorddem Wort Gott, dem einen Wort

voor alles, voor niets.für alles, für nichts.

Poem H2021
Amsterdam, 2018-02-06
The Bible for Nonbelievers - The Beginning. Genesis (Guus Kuijer) - 2012
De Bijbel voor ongelovigen - Het begin. Genesis - Adam
Collection: Chance
Tribute to: Kuijer, Guus 
 

I do hear God's voice,

of course I can't behold Him --


because He's a Word.


Ik hoor Gods stem wel,Ich höre Gottes
maar zie Hem natuurlijk niet --Stimme, kann Ihn nicht sehen --

want Hij is een Woord.denn Er ist ein Wort.

Poem H2022
Amsterdam, 2018-02-06
The Bible for Nonbelievers - The Beginning. Genesis (Guus Kuijer) - 2012
De Bijbel voor ongelovigen - Het begin. Genesis - Adam
Collection: Chance
Tribute to: Kuijer, Guus 
 

Man came up with God:

a strong word, a word inspired --


by God, it is claimed.


De mens bedacht God:Der Mensch erfand Gott:
een sterk woord, een ingeving --ein starkes Wort, inspiriert --

van God, beweert men.von Gott, sagen sie.

Poem H2023
Amsterdam, 2018-02-06
The Bible for Nonbelievers - The Beginning. Genesis (Guus Kuijer) - 2012
De Bijbel voor ongelovigen - Het begin. Genesis - Adam
Collection: Chance
Tribute to: Kuijer, Guus 
 

God is and was there

before I imagined Him --


That makes sense, doesn't it?


God bestaat en wasGott existiert, schon
er al voor ik Hem bedacht --bevor ich Ihn ausdachte --

Dat is toch logisch?Das macht Sinn, oder?

Poem H2024
Amsterdam, 2018-02-06
The Bible for Nonbelievers - The Beginning. Genesis (Guus Kuijer) - 2012
De Bijbel voor ongelovigen - Het begin. Genesis - Adam
Collection: Chance
Tribute to: Kuijer, Guus 
 

My son has the firm

belief that I heard God's voice --


and not my own voice!


Mijn zoon weet zekerMein Sohn glaubt, dass ich
dat ik Gods stem gehoord heb --Gottes Stimme gehört hab --

niet mijn eigen stem!Seine, nicht meine!

Poem S0674
Amsterdam, 2018-02-06
The Bible for Nonbelievers - The Beginning. Genesis (Guus Kuijer) - 2012
De Bijbel voor ongelovigen - Het begin. Genesis - Adam and Abel
Collection: Chance
Tribute to: Kuijer, Guus 
 

Like Samson, kill more

adversaries in your death --


than in your lifetime!


Dood zoals SimsonWie Simson, töte
bij je dood meer vijanden --im Tod viel mehr Feinde als --

dan in je leven!in deinem Leben!

Poem H1837
Amsterdam, 2017-10-27
Diary 1962-1963 (Frida Vogels) - 2007
"Dagboek 1962-1963" - June 12th, 1962, Amsterdam
Collection: Beyond the Cape
Tribute to: Voskuil, Han 
 

Zywa Breakdown

The sweat in which I wake up with a start
after the waterspout, the howling guy wires
hitting my tissues, cutting them

the wind skidding through shreds of half sail
being at the end of my powers
which are strangled by my thoughts

the fleeing madness
in which I perished
my sobbing SOS

save my soul, darn the holes
I am tired, too tired to think
and too confused to be strong

too weak to hope, too afraid
to let go - I will go down
in the depth of the whirl, I

won't get off with a fright -
short of breath I scream
for grace

Poem 1524
Amsterdam, 2017-08-17
Psalm 130: "De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine" ("Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, o Lord")
Collection: Bruises
 

Zywa Honey

I walk past your house
I look for you in my bed, I dream
of your eyes, your beautiful hair

I grab you and don't let go
I take you to my mother, I long
for your hands, your strong arms

You bring me in your room
you put your head against my breasts, you feel
the pigeons in my breath

The winter is past, the rains are over
bushes and trees come into bloom, they rejoice
and sing with the birds

You take my veil away
you kiss my lips, you lick
the honey from my mouth

You see me more beautiful than the dawn
and the moon, with all my heart
is feed your desire

Poem 1446
Amsterdam, 2017-07-28
Song of Songs (Song of Solomon)
Collection: Eyes lips chest and belly
 

Zywa Let it

Seek, and ye shall find
that the answer lies
beneath a new question

After God was found
and defined
as inconceivable
people called: Yes, but
that makes it a belief!
Paul wrote it down:

The old stories are no evidence
neither is the new story
no matter how blind I've been

Go and nail it on the doors!
And yet it must
exist, look at the wonders
around you, look at everything
You shouldn't seek at all
not define, but be aware

be open to it and let it
come and go, then you have found
it

Poem 1307
Amsterdam, 2017-04-25
Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Blind: Acts 9:8
Nail: in 1517 Martin Luther published 95 theses (Disputation on the power of indulgences), which according to later stories were posted by him on the door of the All Saints' (Castle) church in Wittenburg
Collection: Metamorphic body
 

Zywa Holy holy holy

It's almost impossible to get through
He hardly barely see
doesn't even know he's walking

Under the heavy royal clothes
his back lies open, even worse
than his face with the wound

where an ear has been struck off
A living dead, for ever
holy for his Striving

Men push forward, they attack
the platoon with a lot of noise. No chance
Only a few soldiers are killed

At the Skull Pit, the women watch
the king's lashing
his broken nose against the wood

the deep gashes in his back
in plain sight: a man
you can't call him anymore

The soldiers curse him and
the other two for the slaughter
They cast dice for his gold-

embroidered robe and his shirt
even though it is stiff clotted red
His cloak they tear into pieces

for the winners of fate
Quite soon, he suffocates
His father comes to get him

Poem 1231
Amsterdam, 2017-03-19
Jesus (Jerusalem, Friday the 14th of Nisan, April 7, 30 CE, this is the preparation day for the Great Shabbat of Passover on the 15th of Nisan)
Ecce homo (behold the man)
Mark 15:33 Solar eclipse on the day of Jesus' death, the 14th of Nisan. This is recorded as such because three years later, precisely on the 14th of Nisan, Friday, April 3rd, 33 CE, there was a solar eclipse, which a few centuries later also nicely aligned with the shift of Jesus' birth to December 25th of the year 0 CE, so that it is correct then that Jesus lived to be 33, just short of 34, according to the Roman calendar
Isaiah 6:3, Luke 23:27, Psalm 22:19
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Paradise Children

Young people are poor thinkers
You must first feed them

on the fruits of that one
special tree of knowledge

of what is useful and detrimental
before they know anything

and once they get that
they understand

that it is the way it has to be
if one doesn't want to remain a paradise child

for whom everything must be ready
in a world without dangers

What is detrimental to that, is good
for humanity, although it is a pity

that many adults do not continue to eat
the fruits of that tree

Poem 1225
Amsterdam, 2017-03-15
Tree of the knowledge of good (useful) and bad (detrimental - a practical qualification, not the ethical notion of 'evil')
Collection: Metamorphic body
 

Zywa Homo desens

A rebel or a promise?
Our eldest son failed
we do have to keep silent about him

Another hard lesson
the bosses of the soldiers
are our bosses

We will have to concede
no longer believe
that it will ever be all right

that there will ever be a House
indestructible, with in the corner
a rejected stone

We will not build that house
but perhaps we will become rich
enough to buy the weapons

with which we can conquer the land
as ruthless as the tribes
led by Joshua

Poem 1134
Amsterdam, 2017-03-05
Desens = failing, missing
Head of the corner: Psalm 118:22, Mark 12:10
Jesus Christ, the Jewish pretender to the throne
Jehoshua / Joshua / Jesus = JHWH is salvation
Collection: The King
 

Zywa Everywhere because nowhere

Lean, the hands rough skin
A hoarse greeting with holes
between my sand gnashing teeth:

a scary person
I am everywhere because nowhere
I'm allowed to be, give me shoes:
as long as I walk I live

Call me Job, I don't
believe God will save me
from the underworld
where it's warm in winter

till midnight

when the doors close. Whether I hope
to wake up from the cold
I don't know, maybe

I'll do what you do and push
it into the future
Then it doesn't exist

Poem 1130
Amsterdam, 2017-03-05
Collection: Moons
 

Zywa From the depths

When I feel that there is something higher
I feel, on the contrary, my body

Not looking from the depths
if there is a ladder, but
limitless, and then
I know It does not exist
as higher, but within everything
I touch, within everything I think
and inhale and exhale

What I feel is not the distance
but the proximity of the all
and I sigh from the depths
of my soul, which does not exist
the way I've learned, but
which is bodily, I feel it
when I feel that there is something higher

Poem 1097
Amsterdam, 2017-03-01
Psalm 130: De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine (From the depths I have cried out to you, o Lord)
Jacob's Stairs (Sulaam Yaakov)
Genesis 28:10-19
Collection: Secrets & Believers
 

Zywa The deed

It should have ended otherwise
With a supplement, a happy end
Now I can only imagine
that there is more than sacrifices
and smoke for God
for us the meat
because it's a holiday
and then we eat meat

Here I am
we said, God first
and then I
to my son
I made the sacrifice
I performed the deed
with my word
Here I am

No angel to be seen

Poem 827
Amsterdam, 2016-11-10
Here I am: "Hin(n)eni"
   Genesis 22:01 God to Abraham
   Genesis 22:07 Abraham to Isaac
   Genesis 22:11 Abraham to the angel
Collection: A Home
 

Singing vialets!

New! With Elastomembranes --


and Nuclear Sound!


Nieuw! Klankfiooltjes!Neu! Schallveiolen!
Met Elastomembranen --Mit Elastomembranen --

en Kernkracht Geluid!und Gluonenklang!

Poem H1590
Amsterdam, 2016-11-08
Tom Puss and The Angry Vialets (Marten Toonder) - 1960
Comic strip #91 - Tom Poes en De toornviolen (tiers 4113-4168)
Rev. 15:7 seven golden vials (bowls) full of the wrath of God
Collection: Puss & Lord
Tribute to: Toonder, Marten 
 

Echo vialets:

everyone is enjoying --


a picnic with noise.


Echofiooltjes:Echoveiolen:
iedereen geniet hier van --jeder ist da und genießt --

picnic met herrie.ein Picknick mit Lärm.

Poem S0429
Amsterdam, 2016-11-08
Tom Puss and The Angry Vialets (Marten Toonder) - 1960
Comic strip #91 - "Tom Poes en De toornviolen" (tiers 4113-4168)
Rev. 15:7 seven golden vials (bowls) full of the wrath of God
Collection: Puss & Lord
Tribute to: Toonder, Marten 
 

Adam had taught him

to kill, but killing a man --


is no longer peace.


Adam leerde hemAdam lehrte ihn
doden, maar een mens doodslaan --zu töten, aber ein Mord --

is geen vrede meer.ist kein Frieden mehr.

Poem S0401
Amsterdam, 2016-10-05
Acquittal for Cain - the mother (Hester Knibbe) - 2014
Poem "Vrijspraak voor Kain - de moeder" (collection "Archaïsch de dieren")
Matthew 26:52 (For all they that take the sword will perish with the sword) about Abel?
Collection: May the Might
Tribute to: Knibbe, Hester 
 

Not to be blind, though

seeing, I just close my eyes --


to imaginings.


Om niet ziende blindUm klar zu sehen,
te zijn, sluit ik mijn ogen --verschließe ich die Augen --

voor inbeeldingen.vor Einbildungen.

Poem H0633
Amsterdam, 2013-10-17
Collection: WoofWoof
 

Bare sand, construction

soil, and the breath of the wind --


sowing life in it.


Opgespoten zand,Die dicke Sandschicht,
en de adem van de wind --und der Hauch des Windes, der --

die leven uitzaait.Leben in sie sät.

Poem H0205
Amsterdam, 2012-02-12
Collection: BloodTrunk
 

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