After his death, I

discover in his house what --


kind of man he was.


Na zijn dood betrekNach seinem Tod ent-
ik zijn huis en ontdek ik --deck ich in seinem Haus, was --

wat voor man hij was.für ein Mensch er war.

Poem H6122
Amsterdam, 2026-02-28
Mr Bleaney (Philip Larkin) - 1955
Poem
Collection: Within the walls
Tribute to: Larkin, Philip 
 

I only know one

person in the world with this --


ailment and that's me!


Ik ken maar één mensNur einen kenne
op de wereld met die kwaal --ich mit dieser Erkrankung --

en die ben ik zelf!und dieser bin ich!

Poem H5205
Amsterdam, 2025-01-27
You can't stop summer either (Dimitri Verhulst) - 2015
Novella "De zomer hou je ook niet tegen", page 77-78
Collection: Chance
Tribute to: Verhulst, Dimitri 
 

You are a stranger,

I've never recognised you --


Not in one novel.


Jij bent een vreemde,Du bist ein Fremder,
ik heb jou nog nooit herkend --ich habe dich nie erkannt --

In niet éen roman.in einem Roman.

Poem H4923
De Koog, 2024-09-20
Requiem for a friend (Han Voskuil) - 2002
Novel "Requiem voor een vriend", chapter 1951-1956, May 7th, 1955 - Amsterdam, Jan Bruggeman ['Breugelman'] (and Han Voskuil)
Collection: Elude
Tribute to: Voskuil, Han 
 

Love me, so leave me

alone, there is no place here --


but for me, you see.


Houd van mij, laat meLiebe mich, lass mich
met rust, er is geen plaats hier --in Ruhe, hier ist kein Platz --

behalve voor mij.nur für mich allein.

Poem H4349
Amsterdam, 2023-12-07
Animals (Louise Glück) - 1990
Poem (collection "Ararat")
Collection: Wean Di
Tribute to: Glück, Louise 
 

It's not the older,

but the younger, the fewer --


namesakes people have.


Niet hoe ouder, maarJe älter, desto
hoe jonger, hoe minder naam-weniger Namensvetter?

genoten je hebt.Gar nicht! Je jünger!

Poem H4207
Amsterdam, 2023-10-11
Individualism: the parents' need for unique names for their children
Collection: Local interest
 

I can't change places

with you, because one can't do --


that a second time.


Ik zou wel met jouIch würde mit dir
willen ruilen, maar ja, dat --den Platz tauschen, nur kann das --

kan geen tweede keer.nicht ein zweites Mal.

Poem H4090
Amsterdam, 2023-08-29
The waiter and the living (Simon Vestdijk) - 1949
Novel "De kellner en de levenden", chapter VI. The adventure of Richard Haack
Collection: Inmost [2]
Tribute to: Vestdijk, Simon 
 

Not our statements are

personal, but everything --


that happens to us.


Niet onze woordenPersönlich sind nicht
zijn persoonlijk, maar alles --unsere Worte, sondern --

wat ons overkomt.das, was uns zustößt.

Poem H3890
Amsterdam, 2023-06-27
What we call 'I' (Lars Gustafsson) - 1982
Poem "Det vi kallar 'jag' " (collection "Världens tystnad före Bach")
Collection: Specialities
Tribute to: Gustafsson, Lars 
 

People are questions,

asked to questions, and sometimes --


there are half answers.


Mensen zijn vragen,Menschen sind Fragen,
gesteld aan vragen, en soms --an Fragen gestellt, manchmal --

halve antwoorden.halbe Antworten.

Poem H3695
Amsterdam, 2023-01-31
Elegy about a dead labrador (Lars Gustafsson) - 1982
In reference to the closing sentence "Du var en fråga, riktad till en annan fråga bara, och ingendera hade den andras svar." ("You were a question, directed at another question only, and neither had the other's answer.") of the poem "Elegi över en död labrador": man and dog are questions to one another
Collection "Världens tystnad före Bach"

Collection: Specialities
Tribute to: Gustafsson, Lars 
 

Am I unworldly?

What kind of world is it then?


This one, where I am?


Ben ik wereldvreemd?Wäre ich weltfremd?
Wat is dat dan voor wereld?Was für eine Welt ist das?

Deze, waar ik sta?Dieser, wo ich steh?

Poem S1447
Amsterdam, 2022-07-05
Commitment (Leonard Nolens) - 2001
Poem "Engagement" (collection "Manieren van leven")
Collection: High gear
Tribute to: Nolens, Leonard 
 

Am I unworldly?

And should I suffer with you?


Is my pain too small?


Ben ik wereldvreemd?Wäre ich weltfremd?
Moet ik lijden als jij lijdt?Und muss ich mit dir leiden?

Is mijn pijn te klein?Ist mein Schmerz zu klein?

Poem S1448
Amsterdam, 2022-07-05
Commitment (Leonard Nolens) - 2001
Poem "Engagement" (collection "Manieren van leven")
Collection: High gear
Tribute to: Nolens, Leonard 
 

Well, do I matter?

Who wants me the way I am?


Who should I go to?


Doe ik er wel toe?Ach, bin ich wichtig?
Wie wil mij zoals ik ben?Wer will mich so wie ich bin?

Bij wie moet ik zijn?Zu wem soll ich geh'n?

Poem S1445
Amsterdam, 2022-07-04
I'm Not Satisfied (Frank Zappa, The Mothers of Invention) - 1966
Song (album "Freak Out!")
Collection: Specialities
Tribute to: The Mothers of Invention 
Composer: Zappa, Frank 
 

You know the feeling

of not belonging, being --


different, a guest.


Iedereen kent hetDu kennst das Gefühl
gevoel: er niet bijhoren --nicht dazuzugehören --

anders zijn, een gast.anders zu sein, Gast.

Poem S1289
Amsterdam, 2021-11-30
Twice a Woman (Harry Mulisch) - 1975
Novel "Twee vrouwen"
Collection: Thinkles Lusionless
Tribute to: Mulisch, Harry 
 

I do empathise

with you, but still I get lost --


in your mystery.


Ik wil jou kennen,Ich fühle mich ein,
ik leef me in, maar verdwaal --aber ich verirre mich --

in jouw mysterie.du bist ein Rätsel.

Poem S1143
Amsterdam, 2021-03-10
Collection: Life line 
 

Babies say "Mama”

and start talking more, yet less --


you get to know them.


Na "Papa” pratenNach “Papa” reden
baby's steeds meer, en minder --Babys mehr, und weniger --

ga je hen kennen.wird man sie kennen.

Poem S1141
Amsterdam, 2021-03-07
At the birth of Sybren
Collection: I am
Dedicated to: Karin J J, Joris S 
 

Together we will

live in good times as in bad --


a dream of our own.


Samen leven weIn guten Zeiten
in voor- en in tegenspoed --wie in schlechten leben wir --

onze eigen droom.unsere Träume.

Poem H2869
Amsterdam, 2020-12-22
Collection: Summer birds
Dedicated to: Mark H, Marijke T 
 

People are puzzles,

even when they are best friends --


this is not certain.


Mensen zijn raadsels,Menschen sind Rätsel,
zelfs wanneer ze vrienden zijn --selbst wenn sie Hausfreunde sind --

is dat niet zeker.ist das nicht sicher.

Poem S1070
Amsterdam, 2020-10-22
Collection: The drama
 

No obligations,

freely being myself, great!


Indivivial.


Geen verplichtingen,Keine Verpflichtung,
vrijuit mezelf zijn, heerlijk!freiheraus ich selbst sein, toll!

Vrijgezelligheid.Junggeselligkeit.

Poem S1016
Amsterdam, 2020-05-17
Collection: The drama
 

Zywa It is so personal

I stuff my ears
with selected sounds
I fill my eyes
with statuses and trivia
and sometimes I see the light
of today far away
in a picture

I ignore the people
around me, that's how
personal my life is
completely custom-made
inside my head

and confirmed
by my friends
who touch me and are
touched exclusively
on the friendship spot
where our two worlds kiss
each other autonomously

Poem 2366
Amsterdam, 2019-07-21
Hyowon Gweon (Palo Alto [CA]) in The Hague
Collection: Changing Times
 

Zywa Just behave normally

People stare at me
on the rare days
when I dress differently

Someone special
cannot be it for a long time
before people throng

around, chasing
away whoever is in the way
whoever lives or works there

neighbours are replaced
by guests and
they comment

on your role in the performance
that is your own life
and is it no more

if you are not ordinary
boring and showing
no one that you exist

only special
in the mirror
and the eyes of your loved one

Poem 2354
Amsterdam, 2019-07-08
Collection: Mosaic virus
 

Zywa Higher Me

I am or we are, that is the question
the drama of everyday life
Am I myself or do I join
a group, do I want
cover, but not too many
claims to my freedom?

That there are rules, but
enough options left
to evade them legally
to look the other way
and gain an advantage behind the scenes
even though I know (if I want)
that there is a higher Me

that does not want to harm itself
certainly not want to mutilate itself
with sticks, stones, scimitars
or very civilized in one
fell swoop with the push
of a button

Poem 2301
Amsterdam, 2019-06-25
Collection: I am
 

Zywa I am a balloon

I am a balloon
tied together
with strings of gravity

to a hawser of people
in a knot of umbilical cords
(the earth)

My inflated head thinks
to be independent, floating
in its own piece of heaven

(a fantastic existence
  above all the complications
  in the knot)

so full of all sensations
that I don't want to puncture them
because I'm a balloon

Poem 2287
Amsterdam, 2019-06-20
Collection: Migration
 

Zywa Escape-room

The king has the key
to the locks on the outside
and that is precisely the problem

for that king is me
locked up in this pyramid
It's a koan

and it's not funny
Desperately I shout answers
in the dark, groping

I stumble on and
at last the door opens
to another dark room

so Vantablack that depth disappears
I am blind, too tired to cry
I sit down, lie down

in a fantasised sarcophagus -
buried in myself, sinking
out of my consciousness

Poem 2187
Amsterdam, 2019-03-30
Koan ("public matter") = a riddle that gives insight into life
Collection: web tissue
 

Zywa Poo and pimples

In the open field, there is more to see
than you like, poo and pimples

nothing private, trust no good
for anything, shame everywhere

because it's not a secret
in which you deviate, what you eat

which fears and diseases you suffer
how you wash and experience sex, when

you menstruate, have a miscarriage, cry
quarrel, are greedy, mean and unreasonable

or sweet, everything that is wrong with you:
someone who can be missed very well

or needs to learn a lesson – out of mercy
there are mirror places for that

Poem 2185
Amsterdam, 2019-03-26
Collection: Mosaic virus
 

I'm getting older:

more experiences, more --


different from you.


Ik word steeds ouder:Ich werde älter:
meer eigen ervaringen --mehr Erfahrungen von mir --

meer anders dan jij.mehr anders als du.

Poem S0848
Amsterdam, 2019-03-07
Dissolved (Ellen Deckwitz) - 2019
Column "Opgelost" (in nrc)
Collection: Death on Cast
Tribute to: Deckwitz, Ellen 
 

Zywa Connected in our imagination

My words and poses
my taste and helpfulness, all of it
has been demonstrated to me, time after time

Together we are a copy of people
who together were also a copy
of people of people

unique collections
of ordinary habits
and general peculiarities

in a temporary body
that draws a boundary
between you and me

between all souls and senses:
for a multitude of experiences
that we can share with each other

to erase the boundaries again
being connected in our imagination
and to be more than ourselves

Poem 1959
Amsterdam, 2018-12-05
Collection: Metamorphic body
Dedicated to: Ellen H 
 

Zywa Your faces

Certainly, I can recognize
your belly
with which nobody else is familiar

and if you had no arms
no legs and if possible
also no belly anymore

you would still be exactly you
even without hair and ears
you would still have your faces

being enigmatically
and incomprehensibly
yourself, no matter how

I experience you
in admiration
with open senses

and in the curious amazement
of anyone who is taking notice
of you, then wishing to stay

Poem 1818
Amsterdam, 2018-08-25
Collection: More
 

A plant excursion:

I don't belong here and look --


away. Less present.


Fabrieksexcursie:Werksbesichtigung:
ik hoor hier niet, ik kijk weg --ich gehöre hier nicht hin --

Niet meer aanwezig.schaue also weg.

Poem S0481
Amsterdam, 2017-06-12
The Office - Dirty hands (Han Voskuil) - 1996
Novel "Het Bureau - Vuile handen" - 1970
Collection: Dirty hands
Tribute to: Voskuil, Han 
 

Zywa Café The Years

People disappear
in the round off of their group
shifted between deficit and surplus
when the brim is reached

and you still do exist, but all the same
do not count - Nothing can be done about it
For strangers, my life and experiences are
interchangeable, yet non-exchangeable with anyone

Only hypothetically
do my wingbeats matter
amidst all the butterflies
amidst all the flowers

in the gardens of the world
and the vases here
at the centre
of my thoughts

Poem 1292
Amsterdam, 2017-04-22
"Butterfly effect" (enlarged reaction)
Geometric rounding paradox: the half of 13x5=65 squares is 32,5 (in the diagram 32 or 33 squares)

Geometric rounding paradox

Collection: Blown sand
 

Zywa Forget the herd

Finally free in an open field
where there is more to see
than I like
Nothing

that catches my attention
being an obstacle
hiding
what is invisible

A lightning field of insights
that prove themselves
once you have an eye
for the heartbeat and the breath

of the tree of life
in which you move
Then it is difficult
to be blind again

and lonely
and forget
the herd
and the earth

Poem 635
De Koog, 2016-04-17
Collection: Migration
 

Together we build

houses as homes to live in --


and to be alone.


Samen bouwen weZusammen bauen
huizen om in te wonen --wir Häuser zum Wohnen -- und

en alleen te zijn.zum Alleine sein.

Poem H0022
Amsterdam, 2011-11-25
Collection: Webgarden
 

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