Zywa Abdomen

My legs lie long like stakes attached
to my heaving abdomen, lungs
and heart are doing their work

Below the swelling around
my navel, things aren't going
so well, my organs are
well over halfway

through their lifespan, as they say
in a businesslike manner, well
the decline is slow
and apparently not just

in the joints, my
shoulders, back, and knees
no, especially in the core
of existence:

the metabolism
in my stomach
the bladder
intestines

Poem 5758
Amsterdam, 2025-12-15
Collection: Metamorphic body
 

Your face has turned red,

but you keep talking, panting --


from the long, steep climb.


Je loopt al rood aan,Du wirst rot, aber
maar je blijft praten, hijgend --du redest weiter und keuchst --

van de steile klim.vom steilen Anstieg.

Poem S2920
Amsterdam, 2025-08-25
You told me everything in a hurry (Frida Vogels) - 1994
Verse "Je vertelde me inderhaast alles", published in the collection "De harde kern 3" ("The hard core 3" [part X, Father]), and in "Diary 1972-1973" (2012) - July 17th, 1972, Bologna (about her father, September 27th, 1970 in Urbino)
Collection: Overwritten
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida 
 

I have laugh lines, so

apparently you don't have --


to laugh to get them.


Ik heb lachrimpels,Ich hab Lachfältchen,
dus daarvoor hoef je blijkbaar --dafür muss man offenbar --

niet eens te lachen.nicht einmal lächeln.

Poem S2492
Amsterdam, 2024-12-29
Collection: Greeting from before
 

I don't feel like it,

shall I hibernate, although --


there will be no spring?


Ik heb geen zin, zalIch hab keine Lust,
ik gaan winterslapen, al --soll ich Winterschlaf halten --

komt er geen lente?nur, ohne Frühling?

Poem S2447
Amsterdam, 2024-11-09
Collection: Metamorphic body
Dedicated to: Maria Godschalk 
 

Zywa Wisdom

Paying attention to as little
as possible, saving my energy
only vaguely watching at the edge
what is happening and imitating
what the others are doing

just behaving normally, as expected
I have been coming here for that long
and it also feels that familiar
when I go through the door
and see where I am

Not making mistakes
being silent and seeming to be
as wise as I actually am
but no longer on demand
only confirming or cautiously

saying hm with a nod
benevolent and waiting
for further explanation if
the other person dares
or likes to speak

Poem 5470
Amsterdam, 2024-03-25
Collection: Webgarden
 

Zywa Almost touchable

We wear face masks
while she is working
and I see myself
transform, changing colour

into a super being
blue as a goddess
the decay of my body
well camouflaged
seemingly charmed away

What do I show
in this skin?
Myself, almost
touchable?
To strange eyes
I could not be more intimate

Poem 5467
Amsterdam, 2024-03-24
Collection: Metamorphic body
 

The lunar orbit,

the decline of my body:


it all goes slowly.


De baan van de maan,Der Körperverfall,
het verval van mijn lichaam:die Umlaufbahn des Mondes:

alles gaat langzaam.alles geht langsam.

Poem H4577
Amsterdam, 2024-03-23
The full moon climbs slowly, slowly higher (Hongdao Yuan) - 1610
Poem
Collection: Stream
Tribute to: Yuan, Hongdao 
 

He eats well, just look,

my phalanx fits easily --


in his navel hole.


Hij eet goed, kijk maar,Er isst gut, schau nur,
mijn vingerkootje past heel --mein Fingerglied passt bequem --

ruim in zijn navel.in seinen Nabel.

Poem S2028
Amsterdam, 2023-11-28
Midnight's Children (Salman Rushdie) - 1981
Novel, chapter 1-6 "Many-headed monsters"
Collection: Shadows
Tribute to: Rushdie, Salman 
 

I reach for the glass

but I stop, seeing, watching --


my quivering hand.


Ik reik naar het glasIch greife das Glas,
maar val stil, zie, en bekijk --halte aber an, sehe --

mijn trillende hand.wie meine Hand bebt.

Poem H4103
Amsterdam, 2023-09-02
Ivory guardians (Simon Vestdijk) - 1951
Novel "Ivoren wachters", chapter IV
Collection: Inmost [2]
Tribute to: Vestdijk, Simon 
 

Zywa Keep longing

Fall over when I want
to squat with a cat
Well, then lie down

and be a warm bed for her
Give everything a slight twist like that
and take measures

hand grips in the bathroom
reduce my wishes
embrace chance

think: I have been lucky
with my body, with the peace
of friends, in the street and at school

and keep longing
for skin and sun
keep listening

to birds, rain and maqamat
though there is sadness sloshing
in my stomach and pissing in my head

Flush the rest
plans, days with green poo
and fruitless menstruations

Poem 4317
Amsterdam, 2022-02-14
Maqamat = Arabic short stories in rhyme
Collection: On living on [2]
 

Exercise, always

be young, just forever young --


without a later.


Trainen, voor altijdTraining, für immer
jong zijn, altijd maar jong zijn --jung sein, immer mal jung sein --

zonder een later.ohne ein Später.

Poem H3043
Amsterdam, 2021-09-15
Collection: New Ago
 

Pressure in my chest:

it's happened before, I know --


nothing to worry!


Steken in mijn borst:Stechen in der Brust:
eerder gebeurd, ik ken het --ist schon mal passiert, ich weiß --

maak je geen zorgen!nur keine Bange!

Poem S1078
Amsterdam, 2020-11-13
Circumstances (Koos van Zomeren) - 2020
Novel "Omstandigheden", page 220
Collection: Actively Passive
Tribute to: Van Zomeren, Koos 
 

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