Zywa Display windows

In the central square, people stream
out of the ground in elevators
or they land from the sky

They choose one of the gates
open a door and another door
and look around. Sometimes fleetingly

And they look further
return to visit another room
and see more of everything

collected here
in hundreds of display windows
with references

to the world, the reality
that is and that was
of everything worth

to be preserved
in the storms of time
and the transience of life

Poem 6037
Amsterdam, 2026-06-07
website zywa.eu
Mnemosyne is the personification of memory, the inventor of language, later also considered the mother of Muses

Collection: Life line
 

In this aged house,

only the few porcelain --


polar bears are old.


In dit oude huisIn diesem alten
zijn alleen de ijsberen --Haus sind nur die Eisbären --

van porselein oud.aus Porzellan alt.

Poem H6296
Amsterdam, 2026-05-30
Surviving (Esther Gerritsen) - 2026
Column "Overleven", in the VPRO broadcasting guide No. 22 (May 30th, 2026)
Collection: Within the walls
Tribute to: Gerritsen, Esther 
 

I like to play the

organ for an audience --


a hall with old men.


Ik speel graag orgel,Ich spiele gerne
liefst met publiek, een zaal vol --Orgel in einem Saal, voll-

met oude mannen.er alter Männer.

Poem H5620
Amsterdam, 2025-06-18
Maarten Wilmink plays his graduation concert in the Organpark on June 18th, 2025
Collection: org anp ARK 
 

Forever, the last

heartbeat closes the treasure --


chambers in the head.


De laatste hartslagDer letzte Herzschlag
sluit in het hoofd voor altijd --verschließt dauerhaft die Schatz-

de schatkamers af.kammern im Gehirn.

Poem S2464
Amsterdam, 2024-12-02
Collection: The Yellow House Museum
 

Take good care, not of

the ashes, but of the flame --


and also share it.


Bekommer je nietVersorge nicht die
om de as, maar om het vuur --Asche, nur die Flamme, und --

en geef het ook door.gebe sie weiter.

Poem H5023
Amsterdam, 2024-10-29
We took the flame, you kept only the ashes (Jean Jaurès) - 1910
From a speech in parliament: "Nous en avons pris la flamme, vous n’en avez gardé que la cendre" >> "Être fidèle à la tradition, c'est être fidèle à la flamme et non à la cendre" >> "Tradition ist die Weitergabe des Feuers und nicht das Bewahren der Asche" (Gustav Mahler)
Collection: Finethreads
Tribute to: Jaures, Jean 
 

Bombs are everywhere,

I cannot preserve any-


thing permanently.


Overal bommen,Überall Bomben,
ik kan onmogelijk iets --ich werde nichts dauerhaft --

blijvend bewaren.bewahren können.

Poem S2408
Amsterdam, 2024-10-12
Collection: Changing Times
 

There are no limits

to culture, kitsch flourishes --


and it overgrows.


Er zijn geen grenzenDie Kultur hat nie
aan cultuur, de kitsch floreert --Grenzen gekannt, der Kitsch blüht --

overwoekerend.überwuchernd auf.

Poem H4906
Amsterdam, 2024-09-08
The Message to the Planet (Iris Murdoch) - 1989
Novel, part Seven
Collection: Longing and Loss
Tribute to: Murdoch, Iris 
 

The new era, well,

old glory, cheaply copied --


in rotting concrete.


De nieuwe tijd, ach,Die neue Zeit, ach,
oude glorie, nagemaakt --alter Ruhm, billig kopiert --

in rottend beton.in sprödem Beton.

Poem S2262
Amsterdam, 2024-07-12
Shame (Salman Rushdie) - 1983
Novel / Exposition with stories, part 4, chapter 10 The Woman in the Veil (burqa)
Collection: Shadows
Tribute to: Rushdie, Salman 
 

Closed museums, all

objects rot away if they --


have not been sold off.


In de geslotenKeine Museen.
musea rot alles weg --Alles verrottet, was nicht --

wat niet verpatst is.verschachert wurde.

Poem S1956
Amsterdam, 2023-10-13
Collection: The Praised One
 

I write what I read,

for he who speaks his own words --


is not understood.


Ik schrijf wat ik lees,Ich schreibe, was ich
want wie eigen woorden spreekt --lese; eigene Worte --

wordt niet begrepen.sind unverständlich.

Poem H4043
Amsterdam, 2023-08-16
the making visible of all kinds of raids (Antjie Krog) - 2022
Poem "die sigbaarmaking van allerlei strooptogte" (collection "Plunder" ["Pillage"])
Collections: Look at me, Life line 
Tribute to: Krog, Antjie 
 

Zywa The Notre-Dame of Paris

Notre-Dame, she is quite old: although she may
bury Paris, which has witnessed her birth, one day
But in thousand years or more, Time will make recoil
her heavy body, like a wolf does with a bull
and twist each iron axon, each of her neurones
to gnaw alas, with its blunt tooth, her bones of stones!

Many men will overflow the island in the Seine
to contemplate the barren ruin, the last remains
dreamers, re-reading what Victor Hugo has seen ahead:
- Then they'll think they see the old basilica
as it was, mighty and magnificent, a Gloria
rising up before them like the shadow of a dead!

Poem 5261
Amsterdam, 2023-07-20
The Notre-Dame of Paris (Gérard de Nerval) - 1832
Poem "Notre-Dame de Paris" (collection "Odelettes", 1834/1853)
Novel "Notre-Dame de Paris" (1831, Victor Hugo)
Translation contest "The Netherlands translates"

Collection: Reaching out
Tribute to: De Nerval, Gerard 
 

Who still wants to have

the treasures of the book age?


Who has a chimney?


Wie wil de schattenDie Schätze des Buch-
uit het boekentijdperk nog?zeitalters, wer will sie noch?

Wie heeft een schoorsteen?Vielleicht ein Schornstein?

Poem S1777
Amsterdam, 2023-05-24
An antiquarian bookshop puts 80,000 books (in good condition and including special copies) for free in public bookcases ('Street Library'-boxes); other shops, libraries and museums are not interested in them
Collection: Changing Times
 

Fresh air from outside,

smashed into the theatre --


by the wrecking ball.


Frisse buitenluchtFrische Außenluft
het theater ingeslagen --in das Theater, entlang --

door de sloopkogel.der Abrissbirne.

Poem S1247
Amsterdam, 2021-09-19
Collection: Changing Times
 

Zywa Old wisdom

It's over, foreign interests
rearrange everyday life
and clear old wisdom

The children adapt
They don't lift a finger
at the dust and the leaks

They shrug their shoulders
about the salty sea breeze
and don't see the bugs

They are amazed
when the door is open
and the aisles are full

of trampled papers
as fuel for a bonfire
at the Sun Gate

They have not the faintest idea
what was of value
to the thieves

Poem 3276
Amsterdam, 2020-11-11
The decline of the Royal Library of Alexandria in the first centuries of the Common Era
Collection: Changing Times
 

Everything passes,

so we have to build bridges --


roads over the sea.


Alles gaat voorbij,Alles geht vorbei,
dus moet je bruggen bouwen --baue deshalb Hochstraßen --

wegen over zee.über dem Weltmeer.

Poem H2390
Amsterdam, 2019-02-09
Proverb - 44. Everything passes and everything remains (Antonio Machado) - 1912
Poem, Proverbio - 44. "Todo pasa y todo queda" (collection "Campos de Castilla")
Collection: Being my own museum
Tribute to: Machado, Antonio 
 

Experience and

competence, toiled together --


And then the end comes.


Zoveel ervaringGeschuftet: so viel
heb ik bij elkaar gezwoegd --Erfahrung und Sachverstand --

En dan komt het eind.Und dann: das Ende.

Poem S0512
Amsterdam, 2017-08-09
The hard core - 1, Diary 1968-1969, and Diary 1970-1971 (Frida Vogels) - 1992
Autobiographical account "De harde kern" - 1 (1992), "Dagboek 1968-1969" (2010), and "Dagboek 1970-1971" (2011) - Autumn 1963, Bologna
Collection: Beyond the Cape
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida 
 

I have walked for hours

and I didn't see anyone --


Yet there is a path.


Ik loop al urenIch laufe, lange,
en ik kom niemand tegen --treffe niemanden, dennoch --

Toch is er een pad.gibt es einen Pfad.

Poem H0440
Amsterdam, 2013-04-23
Collection: NightWatch
 

My books are old and

know absolutely nothing --


about their children.


Mijn boeken zijn oudMeine Bücher sind
en weten helemaal niets --alt und wissen gar nichts von --

van hun kinderen.all ihren Kindern.

Poem H0426
Amsterdam, 2013-03-21
Collection: The light of words
 

The throne is very

old, but has now been restored...


for the museum.


De troon is eeuwenDer Thron ist sehr alt,
oud maar nu gerestaureerd...wurde aber restauriert...

voor het museum.für das Museum.

Poem H0054
Amsterdam, 2011-12-02
Collection: The Yellow House Museum
 

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