Zywa

Zywa Testing reality

Within the hedge, I walk
in circles around my garden
to defend it

Urchins and vandals
think I'm crazy
and don't belong here

From the roof ridge, I search
the area, the neighbours
come to watch, I stay put

no more afraid than I want to be
If I fall, I've done it myself
although I don't want to slide down

over the smooth tiles
Below me, they quietly
discuss my situation

I wave to them
and give them a thumbs-up
They can go without any worries

Poem 5736
Amsterdam, 2025-12-10
Three poems by Frida Vogels
1952 - A quest for reality
October 2nd, 1969 - You climb up at the risk of your life
February 4th, 1970 - One's own territory
Collection: ThereFrom
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida

Let us talk about

life, because it is often --

so disappointing.



Over het leven	Über das Leben
praat ik graag, want het is vaak --	spreche ich gern, weil es oft --

zo teleurstellend.	so enttäuschend ist.

Poem S3026
Amsterdam, 2025-12-06
(Episode 37) In which Cindy learned about the Haarlemmer Gate (Cindy Hoetmer) - 2025
Column "(Aflevering 37) Waarin Cindy leerde over de Haarlemmerpoort", in the Uitkrant ('Nightlife Paper', winter 25/26)
Collection: No wonder
Tribute to: Hoetmer, Cindy

I keep trying path

after path to get away --

Back to the living.



Ik blijf proberen	Ich bemühe mich,
om weg te komen, terug --	hier rauszukommen, zurück --

naar de levenden.	zu den Lebenden.

Poem S2881
Amsterdam, 2025-08-14
Having tried all paths a thousand times (Frida Vogels) - 1994
Verse "Alle paden al duizendmaal beproefd hebben", published in the collection "De harde kern 3" ("The hard core 3", part IX [Marriage], and in "Diary 1970-1971" (2011) - January 25th, 1970, Bologna
Collection: Lookout
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida

Come on, says Adam,

the apple has been eaten --

and now we'll move on.



Nou ja, zegt Adam,	Na, sagt Adam, der
we hebben de appel op --	Apfel ist gegessen, jetzt --

nu gaan we verder.	machen wir weiter.

Poem H5673
Amsterdam, 2025-07-08
In foreign parts - Chronicles (Frida Vogels) - 2024
Autobiography "In den vreemde - Kronieken", chapter 'Kees en ik' ('Neil and I') - March 23rd, 1983, Bologna (about the polyptych "The adoration of the Mystic Lamb" by Jan and Hubert van Eyck in a chapel of the cathedral in Ghent - Frida takes example by Eva and compares her brother Kees with Adam)
Collection: Helices
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida

Swimming is pushing

water aside, constantly --

It's Sisyphean.



Zwemmen is water	Schwimmen ist Wasser
opzij duwen, steeds opnieuw --	wegschieben, immer wieder --

Sisyphusarbeid.	Sisyphusarbeit.

Poem H4653
Amsterdam, 2024-05-28
and what is swimming (Dorien de Wit) - 2021
Poem "en wat is zwemmen" (collection "eindig de dag nooit met een vraag")
Collection: Rasping ants
Tribute to: De Wit, Dorien

I love life, I sowed

flowers, made bends in the road --

No end in my sight.



Ik zaaide bloemen,	Ich säte Blumen,
legde bochten in de weg --	machte Kurven in den Weg --

Geen einde te zien.	Kein Ende in Sicht.

Poem H4238
Amsterdam, 2023-10-20
Collection: On living on [1]
Dedicated to: Maria Godschalk

I'm wearing flowers,

coarse, prickly, it doesn't matter --

I want to bleed them.



Ik draag graag bloemen,	Ich trage gerne
ruw, stekelig, maakt niet uit --	Blumen, stachelig, egal --

ik laat ze bloeden.	ich lass sie bluten.

Poem H3235
Amsterdam, 2022-03-24
Flowers (Amina Belôrf) - 2020
Poem "Bloemen" (collection "Zonder het licht te breken")
Collection: Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the years 2020-2029
Tribute to: Belôrf, Amina

Zywa Live/Through

Living a bad life
of being wronged
and still wanting to live
- even without hope

Endure the misery
support fellow sufferers
and occasionally enjoy
the surroundings

and a story of the luxury
to have enough despite
the fumbling and the bungling
that always crosses people

My guilty life
of powerlessness, not letting
my family go short, and soon
consuming more than necessary

Also nearby, there are people suffering
and dying nearby, and I live, I want
to make the best of it
and hope for better

We repeat stories
that call us beautiful, courageous
or good, complicit only
to our humanity

Poem 3894
Amsterdam, 2021-07-16
Collection: On living on [2]

Zywa The silent steps

After jumping, I am now learning
the silent steps
between tears and laughter
with regular partners, dancing

around what is not possible
and what I miss
in my fantasy
and my desire

Sometimes I cry about it
What went wrong
is over, what can be
is limited

What I do must
not be a repetition
I practise new steps
on unfamiliar floors

Poem 3225
Amsterdam, 2020-10-31
Collection: Dearme
Dedicated to: Maria Godschalk

We withstand the wind,

our banners stand tall and proud --

in the storms and gusts.



We weerstaan de wind,	Wir trotzen dem Wind,
onze banieren staan fier --	unsere Fahnen aufrecht --

in storm en vlagen.	in den Windböen.

Poem H2217
Scheveningen, 2018-06-21
Collection: Blown sand

Zywa Half days

Awakening with a start, I softly push
over your snoring, reassured

I sink back in fatigue, dreaming
to catch up what I don''t come around to

in my half days of little
care for Missy, you and me

Sometimes I have to keep kissing you
have to weep you wet for more

time, doing more, living bigger
with less sleep, I do have so much

to give what I dont come around to
in my half days of little

care for Missy, you and me

Poem 1619
Amsterdam, 2017-11-17
Collection: On living on [1]
Dedicated to: Maria Godschalk

Zywa Bravehearted

Smaller than I am
I fell into my own arms

to pieces
but all love

licking the wounds
They are mine

The bed doesn't know a thing
it just carries whoever lies down

soft for heavy
and prickly, for me

I talk and write my complaints
away under enthusiastic words

friends desbravely hope with me
guessing what I don't dare

to share and afterwards
I am worried

whether I did them wrong
I am so tired

my body is the limit
I want to pass

Poem 1574
Amsterdam, 2017-10-19
Collection: On living on [1]
Dedicated to: Maria Godschalk

Zywa Keep blossoming

The sky is grey, the wind is cutting
just another day of the adventure
that is life, mine
and yours, of our both

We do not know what awaits us
doing well enough as long as it's getting on
benevolently, we adjust our happiness
we want to open again and again
     and blossom

     Keep blossoming
     keep on blossoming
     keep always blossoming

Whatever goes wrong
whatever our worries are
we look for ways for our wishes
and make plans for spring
     we want to blossom

     Keep blossoming
     keep on blossoming
     keep always blossoming

Today too, we are doing right
and enjoying life
we eat, rest, and give
everything we can give
     all the flowers we can give

     Keep blossoming
     keep on blossoming
     keep always blossoming

Poem 1512
Amsterdam, 2017-08-17
Forever young (Bob Dylan) - 1974
Song (album "Planet Waves")
Collection: Great Flow
Tribute to: Dylan, Bob

Zywa The Zero

How do you count from zero to one?
Does the new year start with
the bursting of the buds?
my life with birth?

or already in winter
when
mother's belly and buds
are thickening? in summer

with the very first molecule?
or is there no beginning, only
hunger
and a devouring mouth

digesting the tail of the old
into an eternal serpent --
the symbolic zero
that does not symbolize anything

that really exists
or it should be me
and you, we human beings
who can no longer do without it?

Poem 1385
Amsterdam, 2017-06-01
Ouroboros
Collection: Lilith's Powers

Zywa Open my hatch

I dared, here I am
I came for the sun, surfaced
from the depths of the sea, away

from addy, our twinsomeness
my unfulfilled talents and work
that does not suit me

Here I am, almost
because the hatch does not open
I become short of breath

in the sarcophagus
of my double-skin submarine

close under the light
on the water surface
of your concerned eyes

I can see the sun, feel it
in my blood, it warms
my dreams and gives them colour

Poem 1121
Amsterdam, 2017-03-04
Amira and Eida S.
Collection: Pending rain
Dedicated to: Amira S

Zywa Wrongprovements

I have fought, still
there are barbarians if you dare
to look behind the mirror

and to step through it
into the real world
of expensively bought wrongprovements

Victories are forgotten
while people celebrate them
over and over again

they will have to be won
till eternity amen
I sign for it

a tick after my name
I have seen life
let's dance

till the music drops

Poem 1111
Amsterdam, 2017-03-03
A checkmark means "vidit" = seen (in 1531, counselors of Emperor Charles V had to sign documents with such a v)
Collection: WoofWoof


Frogs
bask in the sun

I too am lively

I am eager like a baby :
I am interested.
I am enthusiastic.
I am spontaneous

Pad, Salamander, Kuiken

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