Zywa

Inflation will prune

away all dead savings to --

enable new growth.



De inflatie snoeit	Inflation schneidet
al het dode spaargeld weg --	die toten Ersparnisse --

voor een nieuwe groei.	für neues Wachstum.

Poem S3186
Amsterdam, 2026-06-20
Being there (Jerzy Kosinski) - 1970
Novel "Wystarczy by?" (1970, "It's enough to be", translation "Being there", 1971), chapter 4
The novel was beautifully adapted into a film by Hal Ashby (1979, "Being there"), starring Peter Sellers
Collection: Thinkles Lusionless
Tribute to: Kosinski, Jerzy

Zywa Counters

The scores suppress
the profession I have learned
They suppress my work and the joy
of doing something good

Only the rankings count -
the numbers and the turnover
Not health
and helpfulness

I can't keep that up
No one can keep that up
once they realise it
and wonder why

the work is disappointing
why it has to be this way
and why there is little time
for contact

Poem 5961
Amsterdam, 2026-03-23
The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else's Game (C. Thi Nguyen) - 2026
Philosophy of society
Collection: Half The Work
Tribute to: Thi Nguyen, C.

I have influence,

because the money I spend --

I can use wisely.



Ook ik heb invloed,	Ich habe Einfluss:
want het geld dat ik uitgeef --	das Geld, das ich ausgebe --

kan ik besteden.	kann ich verwenden.

Poem H5996
Amsterdam, 2025-11-03
Collection: Local interest

I wonder what it

cost the other person that --

this is free for me.



Ik vraag me af wat	Ich frage mich, was
het de ander heeft gekost --	es ihn gekostet hat, dass --

dat dit gratis is.	dies kostenlos ist.

Poem H5955
Amsterdam, 2025-09-20
Something can be free, but not for the giver
Colonel (Tom) Parker (Andries van Kuijk, Breda 1909-1997) considered having his biography written under the title "How Much Does It Cost if It's Free?"
In the 1930s, the phrase "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" was in use
Collection: Local interest

Of course the monk must

be canonised, in view of --

the economy.



De monnik moet wel	Der Mönch muss heilig-
heilig verklaard worden, voor --	gesprochen werden, aus wirt-

de economie.	schaftlichen Gründen.

Poem S2787
Amsterdam, 2025-07-21
Diary 1960-1961 (Frida Vogels) - 2006
"Dagboek 1960-1961" - August 8th, 1960, San Severo (about San Giovanni Rotondo, where Padre Pio lives)
Collection: Beyond the Cape
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida

Any producer

has to (produce), or may not --

if a law applies.



Een producent moet	Ein Produzent muss
wel (produceren), of niet --	(produzieren), oder nicht --

als er een wet geldt.	wenn ein Gesetz gilt.

Poem S1882
Amsterdam, 2023-08-24
Laws safeguard the public interest
Collection: Half The Work

Forever new books

by new writers, for a dream --

they are immortal.



Steeds nieuwe boeken	Neue Bücher von
van nieuwe schrijvers, een droom --	neuen Autoren, ein Traum --

lang onsterfelijk.	der Unsterblichkeit.

Poem S1846
Amsterdam, 2023-08-02
The Queen of the Tambourine (Jane Gardam) - 1991
Novel, § March 10^th (1990)
Collection: A profession
Tribute to: Gardam, Jane

Zywa The reins of fate

After today's four steps
I'm sitting in socks by the fireplace
My heavy boots are standing straight
and my back is still rattling

I am a henchman
I push the boundaries
of the ladies in love
and the rich gentlemen

I leave horse turd behind
and take the scent of freesias with me
The water in the bucket sloshes
like yearning love

I don't travel alone
We are armed
The papers are precious
Sealed letters

Beginning and maintaining
of relationships and major interests
Between the stops, the reins
of fate are in my hands

Poem 5168
Amsterdam, 2023-05-08
Four steps: four postal stops
Postilions (post-coachmen) wear heavy boots, to protect against getting jammed; these boots are named after the average distance between the posts (postal stops, relays): "bottes de sept lieues" ("seven-league boots")
Postillon d'amour = Post-coachman of love
Collection: Migration

A social country

gives useless students a job --

that does no damage.



Een sociaal land geeft	Ein soziales Land
onbruikbare studenten --	gibt nutzlosen Studenten --

werk dat geen kwaad kan.	harmlose Arbeit.

Poem S1714
Amsterdam, 2023-03-25
The Office - Failure (Han Voskuil) - 2000
Novel "Het Bureau - Afgang"
Page 72, Maarten Koning and Gert Wiggelaar (1983)
Collection: Frustration
Tribute to: Voskuil, Han

Do I hate my job?

No, no, not enough to quit and --

start doing nothing.



Heb ik een hekel	Hasse ich meine
aan mijn werk? Nee, niet genoeg --	Arbeit? Nein, nein, nicht genug --

om niets te gaan doen.	um nichts mehr zu tun.

Poem S1579
Amsterdam, 2022-11-28
The Office - Plankton (Han Voskuil) - 1997
Novel "Het Bureau - Plankton"
Page 81, Maarten and Klaas Koning (1973)
Collection: Dirty hands
Tribute to: Voskuil, Han

Zywa The network

To have something to do
the attendant brushes up the pumps
In the forest it is already dark

Here it remains light, open
if you wait a few minutes
until he is out of bed

But that is no longer the case at night
The villagers refuel during the day
and long-distance traffic drives past

The economy keeps moving
The country, everyone, lives thanks
to the network (the concrete one)

and it may take some time
before it will be automated
Then occasionally someone will come

to spray the pumps clean
the fly spots will remain
and waxing will no longer be done

Poem 4789
Amsterdam, 2022-11-08
Gas (Edward Hopper) - 1940
Painting
Collection: NightWatch
Tribute to: Hopper, Edward

Days of wandering,

through the forest, no view, inns --

as signs to the world.



Dagenlang uitzicht-	Tagelang aussichts-
loos het woud door, herbergen --	los durch den Wald, Gasthäusern --

als wereldwijzer.	als Weiser der Welt.

Poem S1222
Tilburg, 2021-08-25
The forested country in earlier centuries
View of the south, from the residential towers of the Cenakel in Tilburg
Collection: Migration

Zywa Do not prosper

This year is a good year
The harvest is large, we can
hire more people
have our houses renovated

and buy by auction
an extra piece of land
the sellers make a profit
they laugh at all the money

from us farmers and from
the soldiers who came
back from the war with
honestly stolen wealth

They make everything more expensive
so that I am short of money and
have to sell my farm
This year is a bad year

Poem 2330
Amsterdam, 2019-07-02
Inflation by spoils of war, for example during the reigns of Alexander the Great (336-323) and Philip II (1556-1598), and during the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648)
Silver Fleet (Spanish treasure fleet), seized under the leadership of Piet Hein (1628-1629)
Collection: BloodTrunk

Zywa Bypasses

Blockages at work
outages and oxygen deficiency
waste in the blood

The management focuses
on the future and closes
doors and windows against
mosquitoes and moths

Bypasses and bitter pills
do not help, so just one more
reorganization

We have meetings, hear each other
cackle, we croak our croak
play for time and hope and celebrate
the colleagues who say goodbye

I don't postpone it anymore
I will make my own way
create my own failure

My hands are still cleaning up
but my head is already absent
and I make beds in my heart
for those who are dear to me

Poem 2280
Amsterdam, 2019-06-18
Collection: Mosaic virus

Zywa The dikes

I cut a hole to find a hole
water is flowing out
of the concrete, I cut into it
until I'm spent and then

I cut further, a larger hole
in the concrete, sorry dear neighbours
sorry for your ceiling too
but it's leaking and I can cry from it

that I can't put my finger in it
everything is arranged so well
with pipes and working faucets
which I, unfortunately, have to close now

it's a problem for all of us
I don't give up, I don't want to
be the owner of a leak
the dikes must be closed

Poem 2281
Amsterdam, 2019-06-18
Leakage at Magda Sosnowska's
Europa
Collection: Half The Work
Dedicated to: Magda S

People are bathing

in the waves of cargo ships --

that they buy empty.



De mensen baden	Die Leute baden
in de golven van schepen --	in den Wellen der Schiffe --

die zij leegkopen.	die sie leerkaufen.

Poem H2486
Vlissingen, 2019-06-06
Vlissingen (Flushing)
Collection: Summer birds

Zywa Planned economy

Within the banks of the law
everything belongs to everyone
Duties are imposed
rights you have to take

I see myself small
from the high towers
where ministers wait in silence
for orders from above

The plans are ready
the dice roll
over the finely combed cloth
to Grand House or Southern Wind

The adjutant signs
the cautiously prepared move
of yet another new law
for people and country

Statistics are the weapons
They prove who fails
they prove the profit
for everyone

Poem 2237
Amsterdam, 2019-05-08
Collection: The drama

Zywa Unwanted talents

I only have gathered a small pile
of recognition, as it happens
to everyone, but for all my effort

it is not right, I think, and even
there are people who don't understand that:
We love you, they say

What would we do without you!
But gratitude lasts short
and the wages are low

not to mention the talents
of mine, which no one wants
and the careless ease

with which what I do always
is just stored
before it's already cleared away

to keep it from getting dusty
Yes, thanks, thanks to me
building goes on!

Poem 1015
Amsterdam, 2017-02-14
Collection: On living on [2]

If you want to eat

you have to work. Everyone. --

Money doesn't matter.



Als je wilt eten	Wer essen möchte,
moet je werken. Iedereen. --	muss arbeiten. Einjeder. --

Want geld speelt geen rol.	Geld ist unwichtig.

Poem H1615
Amsterdam, 2016-12-05
Tom Puss and The Silly Larvae (Marten Toonder) - 1959
Comic strip #86 - Tom Poes en De Nozellarven (tiers 3832-3891), tier 3863
Collection: Puss & Lord
Tribute to: Toonder, Marten

Eight pumps Premium,

one pump Regular: the world --

is turned upside down.



Acht pompen Super:	Ein Säule Normal
de omgekeerde wereld --	und acht Säule Super Plus:

bij één pomp Normaal.	die verkehrte Welt.

Poem S0141
Amsterdam, 2014-02-22
Miracle Land (Jules Deelder) - 1987
Poem "Wonderland" (collection "Interbellum")
Collection: Specialities
Tribute to: Deelder, Jules

The farmer watches

the land, the livestock, the wind --

the amount of work.



De boer overziet	Der Bauer über-
het land, het vee en de wind --	schaut das Land, das Vieh, den Wind --

en het vele werk.

Poem H0211
Amsterdam, 2012-02-12
Collection: BloodTrunk

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