The child on the bridge

clings to its fear of letting --


go of the railing.


Het kind op de brugAuf der Brücke hält
klampt zich nog vast aan zijn angst --das Kind sich an seine Angst --
om los te laten.vor dem Loslassen.

Poem H4795
Amsterdam, 2024-07-23
Bridge diving (Ellen Deckwitz) - 2024
Column "Brugduiken", in the NRC of July 23rd, 2024
Collection: Death on Cast
 

Is someone knocking?

Is it the wind? It is dark --


What is going on?


Wordt er aangeklopt?Wer klopft an die Tür?
Is het de wind? Wat zie je?Ist es der Wind? Was siehst du?
Wat gebeurt er toch?Was passiert draußen?

Poem S2273
Amsterdam, 2024-07-14
Scene "Was that a knock?" (Victor Hugo / Francesco Maria Piave / Giuseppe Verdi) - 1832
Scene "Si picchia?" from the opera "Rigoletto" (1851, "Rigolo" = funny-man, funny, amusing), third act; based on the play "Le roi s'amuse" (1832, "The king has fun")
Collection: Tardiness in Acceleration
Tribute to: Hugo, Victor; Piave, Francesco Maria 
Composer: Verdi, Giuseppe 
 

I hear him walking

and I keep my eyes closed as --


he gets into bed.


Ik hoor hem lopenIch halte einfach
en ik houd mijn ogen dicht --die Augen fest geschlossen --
nu hij in bed stapt.als er ins Bett geht.

Poem S2207
Amsterdam, 2024-05-30
Distracted (Karin Lachmising) - 2019
Poem "Afgeleid" (collection "Zeven rivieren ver")
Collection: Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 10s
Tribute to: Lachmising, Karin 
 

Conforming myself,

keeping my mouth shut: my fear --


won't protect me though.


Mezelf aanpassenMeinen Mund halten,
en mijn mond houden: mijn angst --mich anpassen: meine Angst --
biedt geen bescherming.bietet keinen Schutz.

Poem S2087
Amsterdam, 2024-01-08
The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action (Audre Lorde) - 1977
Essay
Collection: Wean Di
Tribute to: Lorde, Audre 
 

It is hard to talk

about it, so I'd rather --


let it stay this way.


Erover pratenEs ist schwer, über
is moeilijk, laat het liever --das zu reden, lasse es --
toch maar zo blijven.lieber so bleiben.

Poem S2049
Amsterdam, 2023-12-14
Big Eight (Vrouwkje Tuinman) - 2005
Novel "Grote acht" (route of two circles in dressage), chapter Fourteen (years old)
Collection: Stall
Tribute to: Tuinman, Vrouwkje 
 

The eerie room is,

frightening me with shadows --


of scary monsters.


De vreemde kamerDas fremde Zimmer
maakt me bang met schaduwen --macht mir Angst mit den Schatten --
van enge beesten.schauriger Tiere.

Poem H4311
Amsterdam, 2023-11-28
Midnight's Children (Salman Rushdie) - 1981
Novel, chapter 1-6 "Many-headed monsters"
Collection: Low gear
Tribute to: Rushdie, Salman 
 

He has been hiding

in the basement for three years --


living like a mouse.


Hij schuilt al jarenAus Angst versteckt er
in de kelder, bang leeft hij --sich seit Jahren im Keller:
een muizenleven.ein Mäuseleben.

Poem S2025
Amsterdam, 2023-11-27
Midnight's Children (Salman Rushdie) - 1981
Novel, chapter 1-3 "Hit-the-spittoon" and 1-4 "Under the carpet"
Collection: Low gear
Tribute to: Rushdie, Salman 
 

Zywa Hand washing [2]

For centuries we lived with our cattle
between the cities, but now...
Who are we in this foreign land?
Who are we as unfree workers?

We want to go back and tell ourselves
in increasingly fantastic stories
that we belong together, stories
about a common past

That some of our ancestors
have been away once before
for 40 years, and exaggerated
their return with victories

as if they were thousands
having murdered even
greater numbers of people -
what they were proud of?

Oh, that country
we are homesick for
Should we actually
conquer it, should we

actually wash our hands
in the innocence of the old stories
and self-defense, do we want that?
Do we really want that?

Poem 5373
Amsterdam, 2023-11-09
Palestinians and Israelis
Deportation: to Assyria
Joshua 8-13 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
See also: the poems 2449. With stories we build a nation, and: 1992. 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: My Home
 

Zywa Evil World

The night is safe. Come
Whatever goes wrong
you did what you could do

Come. You want too much
love and appreciation
from others for each other

and fewer regulations
fewer regulators
who interfere

and, like puppets
decide your fate
Mistakes are forbidden

They're in the system
and that's being worked on
Come. Over is the day

in which the seed lies
the seed of your fear
Your gluttonous love

Poem 5200
Amsterdam, 2023-05-17
Evil World: Fear (from a gluttonous need for love, comfort and security you fear, thinking you cannot function in the social system)
About gluttony: poem 5203. Evil Child

Collection: The drama
 

A giggle echoes

from the cave, door after door --


is quickly closed up.


Gegiechel weerkaatstGekicher erhallt
luid de grot uit, deur na deur --aus der Höhle, Tür nach Tür --
wordt afgesloten.wird abgeschlossen.

Poem H3499
Amsterdam, 2022-10-13
#113 - Tom Puss and the Mighty Barribal (Marten Toonder) - 1966
Comic strip #113 - "Tom Poes en de grote Barribal" (tiers 5631-5688), tier 5688
Collection: Bearer Toonder
Tribute to: Toonder, Marten 
 

I don't have a view

at the top of the big wheel:


it sways and it squeaks.


Ik heb geen uitzichtOben am Riesen-
bovenin het reuzenrad:rad hab ich keine Aussicht:
het schommelt en piept.es schwankt und es quietscht.

Poem S1525
Noordwijkerhout, 2022-10-04
Fermata (Stella Bergsma) - 2016
Story
Collection: On the fly
Tribute to: Bergsma, Stella 
 

We are helplessly

squirming, drowning in our fear --


of the refugees.


Wij spartelen zelf,Wir selbst ertrinken,
verdrinkend in onze angst --zappelnd in unserer Angst --
voor vluchtelingen.vor den Flüchtlingen.

Poem S1332
Amsterdam, 2022-02-08
Évian (Ghayath Almadhoun) - 2017
Poem (collection "Adrenaline" and video "Évian" in 2019)
Collection: Truder
Tribute to: Almadhoun, Ghayath 
 

Our nature to keep

our world safe makes us afraid --


of foreign people.


Je wereld veiligDu willst deine Welt
willen houden maakt je bang --sicher halten, du hast Angst --
voor buitenlanders.vor den Ausländern.

Poem S1334
Amsterdam, 2022-02-08
Évian (Ghayath Almadhoun) - 2017
Poem (collection "Adrenaline" and video "Évian" in 2019)
Évian Conference in 1938 (32 countries) on the Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria, after which the Völkischer Beobachter writes on July 13th: "Keiner will sie haben" ("Nobody wants to have them")

Collection: Truder
Tribute to: Almadhoun, Ghayath 
 

If you don't take risks,

you put everything at stake:


you risk all your life.


Juist als je niets durft,Jeder, der nichts wagt,
zet je alles op het spel:setzt eben alles aufs Spiel:
je hele leven.sein ganzes Leben.

Poem S1175
Amsterdam, 2021-05-16
Fear of flying (Erica Jong) - 1973
Novel
(Also in response to the journal "Let Us Have Faith", 1940, Helen Keller)

Collection: Break
Tribute to: Jong, Erica 
 

I always race by

the lurking bush over there --


with its pawing arms.


Ik loop altijd snelIch umfliege schnell
langs de loerende struiken --diese lauernden Büsche --
met hun grijparmen.mit den Greifarmen.

Poem H2723
Amsterdam, 2020-06-14
Collection: Bruises
 

Lie down quietly,

as if nobody lives here --


then they will not come.


Stil blijven liggen,Still liegen bleiben,
alsof hier niemand meer woont --als ob hier niemand mehr lebt --
dan komen ze niet.dann kommen sie nicht.

Poem S0896
Vlissingen, 2019-06-06
Waking up (Willem van Toorn) - 1963
Poem "Wakker worden" (collection "Kijkdoos")
Collection: Shelter
Tribute to: Van Toorn, Willem 
 

Zywa The blue light

For half an hour already
Mimi is purring in my lap

on the toilet
where I am stroking her
because of the lightning

No fear for her
I am a good person
I know that myself

my side is the right side
of the line under the door
the blue light

of the bolts
and the rumbling thunder
the sword of Michael

that separates evil
from good in a time
we all know

as our own time

Poem 2212
Amsterdam, 2019-04-20
Collection: Changing Times
 

Lightning, dad keeps watch,

I must be silent, I won't --


make it more angry.


Papa houdt de wacht,Papa hält Wache,
het bliksemt, ik mag die niet --Blitzschläge, die darf ich nicht --
nog bozer maken.wütender machen.

Poem H2435
Amsterdam, 2019-04-17
The escape of Gilles Whalecutter (M.M. Schoenmakers) - 2019
Novel "De vlucht van Gilles Speksneijder"
Collection: Actively Passive
Tribute to: Schoenmakers, M.M. 
 

Zywa Brain poisoning

The doctors jump
from the symptoms to my youth
Nothing is without cause and cohesion
is interesting

Adrenals can poison you
The twigs at the front are shrinking
there are holes in the network
the cells become islands

and you are adrift
thrown back and forth
on the waves of your emotions -
concentration is of short duration

The present passes chaotically
and the past is unreachably
waiting in the below deck
for repair of the connections

I'm so afraid
and I lash out
Yes, I must
I must relax

Poem 1862
Amsterdam, 2018-10-06
Below deck: Hippocampus
Twigs: Dendrites

Collection: Bruises
 

They gave me a house,

money, and time that I waste --


Afraid. Insecure.


Ik kreeg een woning,Ich hab ein Haus, Geld,
geld, en tijd die ik verdoe --und Zeit, die ich verschwende --
Bang. Besluiteloos.Ängstlich. Unschlüssig.

Poem S0530
Amsterdam, 2017-09-14
Psychiatric diary (Bert Weijde) - 1994
"Psychiatrisch dagboek", March-July 1962 in Amsterdam
Collection: Shelter
Tribute to: Weijde, Bert 
 

I am a doer,

not a talker, and I choose --


to play wait and see.


Ik ben een doener,Ich bin ein Macher,
geen prater, ik kies ervoor --kein Schwätzer, ich ziehe vor --
om af te wachten.um ab zu warten.

Poem S0506
Amsterdam, 2017-07-02
Inside the skin (Han Voskuil) - 2009
Novel "Binnen de huid"
Collection: Not too bad
Tribute to: Voskuil, Han 
 

I hardly dare to

do something, afraid to be --


a dupe of myself.


Ik durf nauwelijksIch wage es nicht
iets te doen, bang van mezelf --etwas zu tun, aus Angst, selbst --
de dupe te zijn.den Preis zu zahlen.

Poem S0499
Amsterdam, 2017-06-30
Inside the skin (Han Voskuil) - 2009
Novel "Binnen de huid"
Collection: Not too bad
Tribute to: Voskuil, Han 
 

Zywa Monsters in humans

You would close your eyes
in the cinema if you dared

to think it is worse
in real life, the horror

everywhere and always, that
people are scared, see

monsters in humans

and conspiracies, offenders
that the police do not catch

For family and friends
God and country, your honour

you have to fix it yourself -
teach lessons to those who do not

participate, they must think
the worst things

until they defecate farmia
and finally no longer

are able to beg
that they may die

Poem 1021
Amsterdam, 2017-02-15
Collection: BloodTrunk 
 

My beautiful view!

I protect it from robbers --


with heavy shutters.


Mijn mooie uitzichtIch schütze meine
bescherm ik tegen rovers --schöne Aussicht vor Räubern --
met zware luiken.mit schweren Läden.

Poem S0433
Amsterdam, 2016-11-13
#45 - Sir Bumble and the trick of the Snipme (Marten Toonder) - 1951
Comic strip #45 - Heer Bommel en de kneep van Knipmenis (tiers 1373-1423)
Collection: Puss & Lord
Tribute to: Toonder, Marten 
 

Fairytale noises

in the woods make fairytales --


quite real, I'm afraid.


SprookjesgeluidenMärchengeräusche
in het bos maken sprookjes --im Wald machen Märchen wahr --
echt waar, ben ik bang.fürchte ich wirklich.

Poem H0610
Amsterdam, 2013-10-06
Collection: Local traffic
 

I hear mum and dad

coming home, they stumble, now --


I can go to sleep.


Papa en mamaMama und Papa
komen stommelend thuis, nu --kommen nach Hause, erst jetzt --
kan ik gaan slapen.kan ich schlafen geh'n.

Poem H0236
Amsterdam, 2012-03-05
Collection: Life line 
 

Zywa The path

It is dark
a wall at the left side
the ditch at the right
and far away
I hear mopeds looming up
at the end of the path
catching me
in their light
the sound becomes loud

my pounding heart presses itself
close against the wall
a minute and it will be over

They stop

Poem 26
Amsterdam, 2005-08-03
Collection: Life line 
 

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