Zywa

All the wallpaper

had already been torn off --

and used as kindling.



Het behang was al	Die Tapete war
van de muur gescheurd, om vuur --	schon abgerissen und zum --

mee aan te maken.	Anzünden benutzt.

Poem H6297
Amsterdam, 2026-05-31
The man with the knives (Heinrich Böll) - 1948
Story "Der Mann mit den Messern" (collection "Heinrich Böll, 1947 bis 1951")
Collection: Patterns
Tribute to: Böll, Heinrich

Quickly through the gates:

don't let the scissors of state --

decapitate you.



Snel de poortjes door:	Schnell durch die Tore:
laat de scharen van de staat --	lass dich nicht von der Schere --

je niet onthoofden.	des Staates köpfen.

Poem H6237
Amsterdam, 2026-05-10
1984 (George Orwell) - 1949
Novel "nineteen eighty-four", part 1, shopkeeper Charrington explains the children's song "Oranges and Lemons" ("The Bells of St. Clement's") to Winston Smith
The two children forming a gate try to clamp the head of the child walking underneath between their arms; this is exactly how the repressive state acts
Collection: Tightrope walk
Tribute to: Orwell, George

After giving birth,

she wants to hear that her child --

is the loveliest.



Na de bevalling	Nach der Geburt will
wil ze horen dat haar kind --	sie hören, dass ihr Baby --

het mooiste kind is.	das schönste Kind ist.

Poem H6073
Amsterdam, 2026-01-29
My struggle 2. A Man in Love (Karl Ove Knausgård) - 2009
Autobiographical novel "Min Kamp. Andre bok", part 3 - January 31st, 2004, Stockholm
Collection: Leaving
Tribute to: Knausgård, Karl Ove

Zywa Always a new start

I'm not addicted, but
I can't do without
the cocktails
of medications, of doctoring

to rein in
without pulling me over
This is who I am, I am
what I eat and what I take

side effects included
both body and mind
under pressure, daily
I have to do exercises

of the muscles, the joints
and to make my mind
flexible
for what I can do then

Every day a new start
for what needs to be done
and for the brief time
when energy flows freely

Poem 5675
Amsterdam, 2025-10-06
Collection: On living on [1]
Dedicated to: Maria Godschalk, Marije S

Zywa More energy

I've grown accustomed
to myself, my changed
body, my different
expectations

and the slumber
of old desires and needs
though I can't get used
to having to put in

so much effort
just to keep functioning
and to be able to go
to sleep contentedly

It is what it is
I am who I am
and the love of others
I can hardly reciprocate

but my divided attention
goes out to them, perhaps
there will be more
energy flowing between us

Poem 5677
Amsterdam, 2025-10-06
Collection: On living on [1]
Dedicated to: Maria Godschalk, Marije S

Since the wood is burned,

those who die of hunger are --

buried in cardboard.



Het hout wordt verstookt,	Das Holz wird verheizt,
in karton begraven we --	in Pappe begraben wir --

de hongerdoden.	die Hungertoten.

Poem H5935
Amsterdam, 2025-09-08
The sound of flowers (Marten Toonder) - 1993
Autobiography, part 2, 1939-1945 "Het geluid van bloemen", chapter XLII
February 1945 (Dutch famine)
Collection: Puss & Lord
Tribute to: Toonder, Marten

Zywa Spiral trees

At home, we each have our cell
our monastic life dedicated
to words and deeds
My words, his deeds

Walks after work
turning on each other's axis
like spiral trees on the edge
of an abyss

Practical issues
we discuss, the undiscussable
I write down in precise sentences
No endless talk

certainly not about myself
And in my struggle
to be seen
as I am

never using improper
words as a weapon
rather encouraging him
to be his best self

Poem 5653
Amsterdam, 2025-07-14
In foreign parts - Chronicles (Frida Vogels) - 2024
Autobiography "In den vreemde - Kronieken", chapter 'Kees en ik' ('Neil and I') - March 20th, 1983, Bologna
When a trunk grows spirally, each root supplies water to leaves on all sides of the tree, and sugars from each individual branch reach roots on all sides of the tree
Collection: Helices
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida

When your life is tough,

you do need a tough language:

poetic language.



Een moeilijk leven	Ein hartes Leben
heeft moeilijke taal nodig:	braucht eine harte Sprache:

poëtische taal.	die poetische.

Poem H5580
Amsterdam, 2025-06-03
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? (Jeanette Winterson) - 2011
Autobiography (normal means: heterosexual), chapter 4, The Trouble With A Book . . .
Collection: Inwardings
Tribute to: Winterson, Jeanette

There's a bird squeaking.

Save, Save My Soul, it squeaks out --

of its pounding heart.



Er piept een vogel.	Der Vogel quietscht.
Save, Save My Soul, piept hij uit --	Save, Save My Soul, quietscht er aus --

zijn bonzende hart.	klopfendem Herzen.

Poem H5175
Amsterdam, 2025-01-18
Pole (Karlheinz Stockhausen) - 1970
Improvisation-composition, for two players/singers with two shortwave receivers, on the occasion of the Expo '70 in Osaka; performed by Robin Rimbaud (electronics), Jakob Lekkerkerker (organ) and Gareth Davis (bass clarinet) on January 18th, 2025 in the Organpark
Collection: org anp ARK
Composer: Stockhausen, Karlheinz

There is little here,

I wish I could go hunting --

on this barren ground.



Er is hier weinig,	Hier gibt es wenig,
viel er maar iets te jagen --	könnte ich nur jagen auf --

op de dorre grond.	dem kargen Boden.

Poem S2228
Amsterdam, 2024-06-20
Lviv (Karim Schelkens) - 2017
Poem from the collection "enkel tegen enkel"
Collection: Passage Passion
Tribute to: Schelkens, Karim

Taken out of class,

no more school, quickly, break out!

Run away from here!



Uit de klas gehaald,	Aus dem Klassenraum
geen school meer, vlug, die kant op!	genommen, Schulende, geh!

Zorg dat je weg komt!	Mach dich schnell davon!

Poem H3476
Amsterdam, 2022-09-30
Different Trains - Europe, during the war (Steve Reich) - 1988
Composition for string quartet and three string quartets on tape, performed on September 30th, 2022 in the Organpark by the Dudok Quartet
Deportations --- Paul, Rachel and Rachella survived the extermination of the Jews (Shoah, catastrophe) - not: the holocaust (holokaustos), because it was not an animal sacrifice to implore mercy or blessing
Collection: org ANP ark
Composer: Reich, Steve

The bell: I'm alive,

but I'm exhausted, yet still --

I want one more chance!



De gong gaat: ik leef,	Der Gong: ich lebe,
maar ben uitgeput, en toch --	und erschöpft will ich immer --

wil ik nog een kans!	noch eine Chance!

Poem H3017
Amsterdam, 2021-08-17
Collection: On living on [1]

Zywa Hedge and heaven

There is no thin part
in the hedge around my life
I have to push through it

My horns get entangled
Where is the helping hand
when you need it?

Should I die here
like Moses on the holy mountain
looking out over the promised land?

Heaven, save me the earth
of a premature grave, give wind
that bends away the branches, water
that exposes the roots, or fire

and I will endure it
until the wood is dry and will give way
If necessary, break off my horns
just do something, and love me

Poem 2222
Amsterdam, 2019-04-26
Collection: PumicePieces

Zywa Defend yourself

When the parents at the nursery
look at you and whisper
that the man who picks you up
is your father, then defend yourself
Straighten your shoulders and your eyes
Shamelessly dare to be his son

When people see you and chuckle
because you have a different name
from your father, aunt and grandmother
then defend yourself with the truth
of their deeds, which is greater
than what is in the civil registers

When you do not know where you stand
then make friends with the neighbours
and live in that reality every day
Defend yourself with what you can do
Shamelessly dare to receive
what is available to you

When you finally know the secret
then shrug your shoulders
because you've already forgotten it
You have defended yourself
with deeds which are greater
than the stories from the past

Frans de Kok, 17 years old

Frans de Kok, 28 years old

Poem 1978
Amsterdam, 2018-12-13
Fran(ciscu)s Antonius dK (1901-1982)
Frans dK directed theater group Were Di (defend yourself) after the Second World War
The verses of the song "Brabant" (1947) by Clem De Ridder (lyrics) and Emiel Hullebroeck (music) end with the line: "Brabant, land of joy, noble Brabant, defend yourself!"
Collection: New Ago
Dedicated to: Frans dK

A good test result,

I will keep the side effects --

up much better now.



Een goede uitslag,	Ein guter Befund,
de bijwerkingen houd ik --	Nebenwirkungen halt' ich --

nu weer beter vol.	wieder besser aus.

Poem H2321
Amsterdam, 2018-11-07
Collection: On living on [1]
Dedicated to: Maria Godschalk

Zywa Rainbow

No one paid attention
till the water poured over
the mountain ridge into the lake
It was raining all summer
a dense gray aerial

sea shed
as a world ocean
over the earth, a thick skin
of beating wood came flooding
up, do not mind the animals

Do not look for people
you knów
the old world
still bubbles up a bit
from the drowned trees

The water stretches
and tautens a flat mirror
under the sky and the rainbow
My boat floats
until it gets stranded

Poem 1700
Amsterdam, 2018-03-16
Arc (Ton Bruynèl) - 1966
Composition "Arc" (1966, Ton Bruynèl), for organ and 4 sound tracks, performed at the Organpark on Sunday, March 2nd, 2014
Turkey (Black Sea, 6300-6200 BCE)
Noah
Collections: A Home, ORG anp ark
Composer: Bruynèl, Ton

Zywa The watchword

Looking into the light
of the golden mirror, I eat
all the comfort that's in the house

Kissing is no help
crying only after sleeping
from exhaustion, disappointed

but it is no different
than expected, than it was
during the siege

Wanting to live
remains the watchword
After a cold shower

putting on my make-up
getting my courage together
A new day, golden light of the sun

Poem 1623
Amsterdam, 2017-11-20
Collection: On living on [2]

Zywa Hands and feet

Over there, taking root is risky
Dung and rain are uncertain
soil can be shoveled away
and become exhausted, you yourself
can be dug out or torn out and
the worst part is that you know this

Here is the free world
Hard and barren
Concrete, steel, and plastic, walls
around small rooms and closed doors
rolls of barbed wire on the borders
and pitiless bureaucracy

Next to me, arms and legs
survive with ugly scars
They embrace me passionately
with hands and feet, take root
in my attention and feed
on my kindness

Poem 1553
Amsterdam, 2017-09-21
Collection: The drama

Zywa Waterwolf

We live in the side compartments
of a suitcase on the way

that exchanges our flesh and blood
for pepper and cinnamon

sometimes also sleeping pods, but
only the captain knows about that

     The ship has a big belly
     it is a hungry waterwolf

     and we, in this realm of the dead
     hope to be saved

     spit out on land
     like Jonah by the whale

We do our job, for the shipping line
fixed costs of wages and compensations

often paid to the parents
who lost us to the sea

and to the widows
who could not count on us

Poem 1016
Amsterdam, 2017-02-14
Sleeping pods: papaver
Waterwolf: both the wolves and the whales originated from a wolf animal as their ancestor
Collection: BloodTrunk

Zywa Farmer at sea

I am a farmer at sea
60 sheep, 100 pigs
geese and ducks on departure

These are frugal rations
with the stew, army bread and beans
No need to slaughter

The beasts just die
so there is always meat
for the cook and the officers

high above my smelly stable
where I haul in the buckets from the sea
and scrub the shit through the scuppers

In the bunks, it is worse
There is the world of the below deck
of sweat, exhaust gases, and the rasping sick

where you sink asleep in a pit
full of poo and pee, gasp for air
and throw up brown tar

Poem 966
Amsterdam, 2017-01-21
Merchant shipping in the 18^th century
Collection: Migration

Zywa Hand in hand

I survived
and write it down
to forget it

I don't have to remember
what I can read over, but I have to
look for the words

that hide, anxious words
as if my pen is the knife
under the highway past our house

put out of nowhere on my throat
The evening had already fallen
Nervously he cried for money

a beginner, his plan
could be smoothened with calmness
my fear sabotaged

by my husband: 'We don't have money
what use are tea and caramel fudges?'
'Í have money! In my bag'

'Give, give!' My husband
quietly takes my purse
and opens it upside down

The coins fall
The boy bends down
Hand in hand we run

Poem 909
Amsterdam, 2016-12-22
1994, Amsterdam Zuidoost
Collection: Life line

The grass grabs hold and

swims against the roaring wind --

using all its legs.



Het gras grijpt zich vast	Das Gras klammert sich
en zwemt tegen de wind in --	und schwimmt gegen den Sturmwind --

met al zijn benen.	mit allen Beinen.

Poem H0366
Texel, 2012-10-16
Collection: Bruises

The gull does not flee

from their stench, no, it attacks --

them: the garbage bags.



De meeuw vlucht niet weg	Die Möwe flieht nicht
voor hun stank, hij valt ze aan:	vor ihrem Gestank, greift sie --

de vuilniszakken.	an: die Müllsäcke.

Poem H0257
Amsterdam, 2012-04-08
Collection: Local inconveniences

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