Zywa The barbarians have come

The barbarians have come
and they keep coming
century after century

We are polite, we give
them high titles
They give us their laws

in a nice speech
with eloquent words
about civilisation in our wilderness

that we nota bene no longer
need to live like savages
no longer in the wilderness

The barbarians have come
and they keep coming
century after century obedient

to the right and the interests
that threaten them with the strong arm
the hard hand, and a ripped out tongue

Poem 4501
Amsterdam, 2022-05-30
#14 "Periménontas tous Barbárous" ("Waiting for the Barbarians" (1904, Konstantínos Kaváfis)
- The barbarians, when they are there, will give the laws.
- And the emperor waits to receive their leader. He even had a parchment made to give him. On it he wrote many titles and big names for him.
- Because the barbarians will come today, and they do not like eloquence and beautiful speeches.

In the council of the league of the Iroquois are speakers (sachem) those who bring the position of their group and try to convince the others to agree with it (the Aztecs named these speakers 'tlatoani', with Moctezuma as huey-tlatoami [supreme speaker]); it is honorable to be a speaker, but there is no power attached to it, so that the settlers wrongly treated the speakers as 'chief'
Collection: The drama
Tribute to: Kaváfis, Konstantínos 
 

Zywa Five ponds, five nations

Peace got clothes to wear
that are called democracy
and are also worn by others

doppelgangers on the stage
of the power that they serve
as an extra or a puppet

It's an easy role
but in real life it is great
self-control and a matter

of patience to understand others
and to convince each other
of a public interest

This is how the Great Law
of Peace works along the Panther Lake
and the Sparkling Water

listening and consulting
without ventriloquism
or indelicate word

Poem 4503
Amsterdam, 2022-05-30
In the Mohawk area are the 'Five Ponds Wilderness' and the 'Black River Wild Forest'
The Iroquois are the league of the five tribes (nations) Mohawk, Oneida, Onanondaga, Cayuga and Seneca; this league is called Kaianerekowa = Great Law of Peace
In the council of the league of the Iroquois are speakers (sachem) those who bring the position of their group and try to convince the others to agree with it (the Aztecs named these speakers 'tlatoani', with Moctezuma as huey-tlatoami [supreme speaker]); it is honorable to be a speaker, but there is no power attached to it, so that the settlers wrongly treated the speakers as 'chief'
Lake Erie: Erielhonan = Long-tail/Panther
Lake Ontario: Ontario = Sparkling water
Collection: The drama
 

A lie cannot walk,

it has neither feet nor legs --


but it does have wings.


Een leugen loopt niet,Eine Lüge läuft
ze heeft voeten noch benen --nicht, hat Füße noch Beine --
vleugels heeft ze wel.Flügel hat sie schon.

Poem S0961
Amsterdam, 2019-11-14
Hochelaga, or England in the New World (Eliot and George Warburton) - 1846
Redacted proverb
Hochelaga is an Iroquoian village, now Montréal
"Hochelaga, or England in the New World" (Eliot and George Warburton)
Collection: The Note Tree
Tribute to: Warburton, Eliot & George 
 

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