Zywa

Zywa Safety Zone

The streets are occupied
We climb over the roofs
to school, Dad, too
has to

do the shopping
and go to work this way
if there is work and if not
another workshop

has been seised again
under the watchful eyes
of the army or an orchard burned
down right before the harvest

The city becomes a safety
a zone for hostile soldiers
with a field of fire for which
they demolish houses

Poem 6147
Amsterdam, 2026-10-28
Hebron
Collection: PumicePieces

Yellow smoke and then

the vibrations, the muffled --

humming of the tanks.



Na de gele rook:	Der gelbe Rauch, die
de trillingen, het doffe --	Vibrationen, das dumpfe --

gebrom van de tanks.	Summen der Panzer.

Poem S3251
Zandvoort aan Zee, 2026-09-03
The man who read books (Rachid Benzine) - 2025
Novel "L'homme qui lisait des livres", chapter "If This Is a Man", named after the book "Se questo è un uomo" (1958, Primo Levi)
Collection: Truder
Tribute to: Benzine, Rachid

Life goes on: even

in the ruins you can see --

serving trays of tea.



Het leven gaat door:	Die Menschen leben:
ook in ruïnes zie je --	selbst in den Ruinen gibt --

dienbladen met thee.	es Tabletts mit Tee.

Poem H6408
Zandvoort aan Zee, 2026-09-02
The man who read books (Rachid Benzine) - 2025
Novel "L'homme qui lisait des livres", chapter "The meeting"
Collection: Truder
Tribute to: Benzine, Rachid

Gaping rooms after

the bomb attack, a blue door --

remains, undamaged.



Gapende kamers	Gähnende Räume
na de bom, een blauwe deur --	nach der Bombe, eine Tür --

nog ongeschonden.	noch unbeschädigt.

Poem S3245
Zandvoort aan Zee, 2026-09-02
The man who read books (Rachid Benzine) - 2025
Novel "L'homme qui lisait des livres", chapter "The meeting"
Collection: Truder
Tribute to: Benzine, Rachid

Having fled without

anything, with only keys --

to our house (destroyed).



Gevlucht zonder iets,	Geflohen, nur mit
met alleen maar de sleutels --	den Schlüsseln zu unserem --

van ons huis (vernield).	Haus (völlig zerstört).

Poem S3247
Zandvoort aan Zee, 2026-09-02
The man who read books (Rachid Benzine) - 2025
Novel "L'homme qui lisait des livres", chapter "The earth is too tight for us - Balad al-Sheikh"
About the Nakba ("Catastrophe") in 1948
Collection: Truder
Tribute to: Benzine, Rachid

It is quiet. Time

stagnates, we must wait, knowing --

that it will not pass.



De stilte. De tijd	Die Stille. Die Zeit
stagneert, we wachten, weten:	stagniert, wir warten, wissen:

het gaat niet voorbij.	es geht nicht vorbei.

Poem S3248
Zandvoort aan Zee, 2026-09-02
The man who read books (Rachid Benzine) - 2025
Novel "L'homme qui lisait des livres", chapter "The legend of the ages - Aqabat Jaber" (near Jericho)
Collection: Truder
Tribute to: Benzine, Rachid

Malnourished and sick

in the tent camp full of dust --

that covers our dreams.



Ondervoed en ziek	Unterernährt, krank,
in het tentenkamp vol stof --	im Zeltlager voller Staub --

dat dromen bedekt.	der Träume bedeckt.

Poem S3249
Zandvoort aan Zee, 2026-09-02
The man who read books (Rachid Benzine) - 2025
Novel "L'homme qui lisait des livres", chapter "The legend of the ages - Aqabat Jaber" (near Jericho)
Collection: Truder
Tribute to: Benzine, Rachid

They resist, hold back

their anger, breathe bitterness --

and unfounded hope.



Ze verzetten zich,	Sie versetzen sich,
ademen verbittering --	atmen Verbitterung und --

en ijdele hoop.	nutzlose Hoffnung.

Poem S3250
Zandvoort aan Zee, 2026-09-02
The man who read books (Rachid Benzine) - 2025
Novel "L'homme qui lisait des livres", chapter "The legend of the ages - Aqabat Jaber" (near Jericho)
Collection: Truder
Tribute to: Benzine, Rachid

Zywa Who can do something about it

The army shoots at medics, at bringers
of food and at the voices crying
to report on it

The army shoots at children
it drove from their homes
or lets starve there

The army shoots at refugees
tortures their bodies and their despair
kills their vital organs

The army shoots at everyone
in no man's land
until no one is left there

and none of the spectators
have to do anything anymore
because it is over

Poem 6057
Amsterdam, 2026-06-15
2nd round (Lieke Marsman) - 2026
Poem "2e ronde", about freedom of speech (collection "De dichter en de duivel" ["The poet and the devil"] )
Collection: The Yellow House Museum
Tribute to: Marsman, Lieke

Eliminate their

doctors! Enemies must die!

It is our duty!



Weg met hun artsen!	Weg mit den Ärzten!
Vijanden moeten sterven!	Feinde müssen sterben! Das --

Dat is onze plicht!	ist unsere Pflicht!

Poem S3093
Amsterdam, 2026-02-27
Targeted attacks by Iran in the hospitals, Israel in Palestinian territories, Russia in Ukrainian cities, RSF (Rapid Support Forces) in Sudan
Collection: BloodTrunk

Jews persevered for

centuries by believing --

in 'the Promised Land'.



Joden hielden vol,	Juden hielten durch,
eeuwenlang, gelovend in --	sie glaubten weiterhin an --

'het Beloofde Land'.	'das Gelobte Land'.

Poem S2741
Amsterdam, 2025-07-02
In foreign parts - Chronicles (Frida Vogels) - 2024
Autobiography "In den vreemde - Kronieken", chapter 'De Zesdaagse Oorlog' (The Six-Day War) - June 1967, Bologna
Collection: Between us
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida

First European

ghettos, now the Arab one:

State of Israel.



Eerst in Europa,	Erst Europa, jetzt
nu een Arabisch getto:	Arabien: das Ghetto,

de staat Israël.	der Staat Israel.

Poem S2742
Amsterdam, 2025-07-02
In foreign parts - Chronicles (Frida Vogels) - 2024
Autobiography "In den vreemde - Kronieken", chapter 'De Zesdaagse Oorlog' (The Six-Day War) - June 1967, Bologna
Collection: Between us
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida

Israel, the state

is not like other countries --

it is an old pain.



De staat Israël	Der Staat Israel
is geen land als andere --	ist kein Land wie andere --

het is oude pijn.	er ist alter Schmerz.

Poem S2743
Amsterdam, 2025-07-02
In foreign parts - Chronicles (Frida Vogels) - 2024
Autobiography "In den vreemde - Kronieken", chapter 'De Zesdaagse Oorlog' (The Six-Day War) - June 1967, Bologna
Collection: Between us
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida

We argue about

the right words for "it", which must --

stop without delay.



We twisten over	Wir streiten über
de juiste woorden voor "het" --	die richtigen Worte für --

dat nu moet stoppen.	"es", dass muss stoppen.

Poem S2728
Amsterdam, 2025-06-21
the right words (Babs Gons) - 2025
Poem "de juiste woorden", in the NRC of June 21st, 2025, about the destruction of the Palestinian territories
Collection: Stall
Tribute to: Gons, Babs

It's too bad, that we

can't stop it, but later we --

shall commemorate.



We kunnen het niet	Wir können es nicht
stoppen, maar later zullen --	stoppen, ach, später werden --

we het herdenken.	wir es gedenken.

Poem S2729
Amsterdam, 2025-06-21
the right words (Babs Gons) - 2025
Poem "de juiste woorden", in the NRC of June 21st, 2025, about the destruction of the Palestinian territories
Collection: Stall
Tribute to: Gons, Babs

It is still the same:

Israel is deaf, allows --

its prophets too late.



Het gaat nog steeds zo:	Es gilt immer noch:
Israël is doof, erkent --	Israel ist taub, erkennt --

profeten te laat.	Propheten zu spät.

Poem S2684
Amsterdam, 2025-05-31
Collection: Greeting from before

We are witnesses

of Jerusalem, the place --

where there is no peace.



Wij zijn getuigen	Wir sind die Zeugen
van Jeruzalem, de stad --	Jerusalems, der Stadt in --

waar geen vrede is.	der kein Frieden herrscht.

Poem S2565
Amsterdam, 2025-02-18
Silent Eyes (Paul Simon) - 1975
Song, album "Still Crazy After All These Years"
Jerusalem = Foundation/Dwelling of (the god of war) Shalem, later explained as: City of Peace
Collection: Here &Now&
Tribute to: Simon, Paul

The good cells: destroyed,

together with the cancer --

of desperate acts.



De goede cellen:	Die guten Zellen:
dood, samen met de kanker --	tot, zusammen mit dem Krebs --

van wanhoopsacties.	der Verzweiflungstat.

Poem S2474
Amsterdam, 2024-12-11
Palestine (Gaza Strip)
(After causing it,) Labelling desperation as terrorism
Collection: PumicePieces
Tribute to: Murdoch, Iris

Zywa Mass Migration

Feelings about that word
the collapsing world
and the loss of dignity

The consciousness
that it continues to happen
before our eyes, also here

where for a century, expelled people
find a homeland in a promise
from the distant past

By force they occupy the land
have become the majority
and built a state

while foreign soldiers
with an international mandate
marched past the citadel

and maintained order
by bloodily, bloodily suppressing
protests against the colonisation

Poem 5506
Amsterdam, 2024-04-19
Mass immigration of Jews into Palestine since 1919
Promise: the Promised Land
Marched: photo of the Scots Guards passing down Bethlehem Road below the citadel of Jerusalem in 1936
Collection: PumicePieces

The cities destroyed,

people raped, people murdered --

and people enslaved.



De steden verwoest,	Die Städte zerstört,
de mensen verkracht, vermoord --	die Menschen vergewaltigt --

tot slaven gemaakt.	ermordet, versklavt.

Poem S2156
Amsterdam, 2024-03-23
Lessons of darkness (François Couperin) - 1714
Composition "Leçons de ténèbres" - Troisième Leçon pour le Vendredi Saint (Third lesson for Good Friday) for two sopranos, viola da gamba, theorbo and organ, performed in the Organpark on March 23^rd, 2024 by La Sfera Armoniosa (Johannette Zomer, Channa Malkin, Paulina van Laarhoven, Mike Fentross, Pieter van Dijk)
Palestine in the year 587 BC (destruction of Jerusalem) >> Lamentations 5:11 They ravished [raped] the women in Zion, the maids in the cities of Judah.
Collection: org ANP ark
Composer: Couperin, Francois

Zywa Hand washing [2]

They say that we are back
home again, here
in this foreign land
where our ancestors once lived

They tell fantastic stories
and that we must persevere now
then the olives, the land
and the livestock will be ours

They are grateful to be here
in the land that, according
to them, we longed for
and which we must defend

They are so certain
and they take offence
at my considerations
of what peace entails

Poem 5373
Amsterdam, 2023-11-09
Return of Israelis after the exile in Assyria, after the years in Egypt, and after the Shoah
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
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: The Praised One

Zywa Fight in the Lowlands

From generation to generation
separate from the others
hoping for a place
where we are not strangers

For centuries uncertain
about our fate, wrestling
with The Name, we fighting
for a safe home

Seeking peace on The Mount
Driving out the new Philistines
who seek our lives
from the Lowlands

They die by the thousands
as their buildings collapse
Not a single pillar remains standing
for only the land, this land

the whole land, the whole city
the whole mountain, everything
from the river to the sea
can ease our doubts

Poem 5363
Amsterdam, 2023-11-06
The Name: "HaShem", the indication of God
Wrestling: after the byname "Isra-El" = "Who contends with God" (Genesis 32:28)
The Mount: Moriah and Zion, the centre of Jerusalem
Lowlands: "Canaan", with the Gaza Strip, where the Philistines used to live
Pillar: Samson destroys a temple in Gaza (Book of Judges 16:26-30)
From the river to the sea: Palestinian slogan, which also characterises the policy of the State of Israel
Collection: The Praised One

Zywa Emzara's complaint

Being silent was best
Ham is strong and he threatened me
with a fatal accident
Then there was a child

Oh, my dear husband
the tireless
naturalist of the fermented juice
of sweet grapes

His old age has been tarnished
by that made-up anecdote
which hid the rapes
under a moment of shamelessness

But the punishment betrays it
anyway, the eternal curse
from the first scream
of the baby, innocent

Canaan, my youngest son
His generations to generation
subjugated and squeezed to death
in the purple lowlands

Poem 4537
Amsterdam, 2022-06-16
Emzara: Book of Jubilees 4:33
Canaan = "low"(lands) / "subjugated" (land) / (land of) "purple"
Collection: A Home

They like to believe

in a forged past history --

and make it legal.



Ze geloven graag	Sie glauben gerne
in een vervalst verleden --	an gefälschten Geschichten --

en wettigen dat.	machen sie legal.

Poem S1393
Amsterdam, 2022-04-10
For example Israel, Russia, China
Collection: The Praised One

Close in on their grave,

let them die, they're unworthy --

of bearing a name.



Omsingel hun graf,	Umzingle ihr Grab,
laat hen sterven, onwaardig --	lass sie sterben, unwürdig --

een naam te dragen.	Namen zu tragen.

Poem S1394
Amsterdam, 2022-04-10
Superiority idea - For example * Israel - Palestines, * European settlers in North America Indians (19th century), * Russia - Ukrainians, * China - Uyghurs
Collection: The Praised One

The greed of power:

with chainsaws and bulldozers --

as bombs, battle tanks.



Hebzucht van de macht:	Die Habgier der Macht:
kettingzagen, bulldozers --	Kettensäge, Bulldozer --

als bommen en tanks.	als Bomben, Panzer.

Poem S1395
Amsterdam, 2022-04-10
For example Israel - Palestine
Collection: PumicePieces

Zywa One people

We wanted to go to the real paradise
Out of the delusive dream
But we were loose sand

like in the desert
And we couldn't go there
It was already occupied

We should have to fight
have to kill
people like us

So we are forged
into blood brothers, one people
of chosen under the eye

of a god with daggers
in the hands of his servants
under the paradise flag

that liberated us
from forced labour for the rich
who don't speak our language

We make detours
that walk over bodies
until we'll live there

Poem 3503
Amsterdam, 2021-02-22
Collection: The King

Zywa The Colonelists

The Lieutenant Colonel is a hero
It is difficult to live
with a loss

It raises questions
About his contempt
for people and the constitution

Fortunately, the winners lost
They withdrew
from the plain where there is no food

Thus the colonelists got their way
They are not bad losers
In the end, they won

But victims do not forget
Their expulsion is alive, being
cut out, cut off, cut down

still trapped
in delusions
of colonelists who believe

themselves to be chosen
by the One and Only
who cannot lose

Poem 3356
Amsterdam, 2021-01-12
With God on our side (Bob Dylan) - 1964
Song
Libby Bacon, the widow of Lieutenant Colonel George Custer managed to embellish in the newspapers his mistakes in "The battle of the Little Bighorn" (1876, on the so-called tributary of the Bighorn in Montana), which was completely won by the Sioux (Lakota), Cheyenne, and Arapaho, as heroic acts
Collections: PumicePieces, Great Flow
Tribute to: Dylan, Bob

Zywa Drive tyranny away

The neighbours have started
People like us
But they refuse
to be my neighbours, they smash
rockets in the school yard
I'm not afraid, I will die

That may seem bad
but it has to be so
They do the same
until we are expelled
grabbed by the neck
and thrown out

I want them to cry
for help, to wail for justice
and to beg for salvation
and I shall hear
and I shall see
and I shall remain silent

until they are dead

Poem 2132
Amsterdam, 2019-02-27
Intifada, 1987
Collection: Short Sermons

Zywa Where warriors live

We create
a new world
with bombs
fear and blood
fire for a fire
debris for debris

We know
we will die
we have chosen to die
on the right side
where only warriors live

Friends and foes
have to pay
for our food
and the swords
that slaughter
the old world

Friday afternoon
we kneel in ar-Raqqa
and in the evening
we give thanks in Tel Aviv
it's a prostrated fight
prayer for a prayer

Poem 2133
Amsterdam, 2019-02-27
Syria (ar-Raqqa in 2014, "Management of Savagery", instructions for jihadism)
Palestine (Tel Aviv in 2014)
Collection: Short Sermons

Zywa The Beast

For keeps, the mountain is caught
in the stranglehold of the snake
and the city too, the whole country

Along the sea, its tail lashes
with thunders, craters of hellfire
into the earth, it roars and howls

fears of death into our breath at night
it shatters our grasshopper heads
on the cobblestones, each and every one

It doesn't like me, it only eats
the land on which I live, it encloses
and stuns me like a cockroach
that keeps sliding back in the bottle

and cannot escape from dreams
of lost freedom and the villages
wiped away and smoothed
by its long snake stomach

There is no land left for the dead
They are buried under our beds
Tell me, how can I sleep like this
waiting for a miracle
waiting for death?

Poem 2125
Amsterdam, 2019-02-25
Palestine (5-10 June 1967 - Six-Day War)
Collection: Short Sermons

Zywa Checkpoint

Someone says I must cry
but what should I cry?
That grass withers and flowers
fall off, but promises remain
forever unbroken?

Don't give up
climb a high mountain and cry
to all hearts the suffering
is over, the injustice, the nails
that hit through our veins pin
us down, and the barbed wire
of segregation that separates us

Break down the blockages
level inequality and pave
a holy way in the wilderness!
cry! break the silence!

Poem 2126
Amsterdam, 2019-02-25
Palestine (checkpoints)
Shovrim Shtika (Breaking the Silence)
Collection: The Praised One
Tribute to: Shovrim Shtika

Zywa Door to the future

Believing in a new world
for our children's children
and able to wait a long time

making plans
for the divine time
which now begins, with plan A, B, C

and D for Door
to the future
of a Holy Land

with reinforced concrete
and faits accomplis
house by house

field after field, well after well
plundered, contaminated or closed
military area, the dogs loose

at children herding goats
children going to school
children of blind and crippled people
children without parents
children who shouldn't be here

Poem 2120
Amsterdam, 2019-02-24
Palestine (Jerusalem 1947 - Plan Dalet)
Collection: The Praised One

Zywa Summer Rains

Once there was prosperity here
thriving trade, a ribbon
of harbours full of ships:
the land of the Philistines
Now suffocated, enclosed
by the ghetto

There are Summer Rains
breaking us, bones
roads and bridges
quays and offices, roofs
lie on the ground
next to open sewers, smell

where we live, don't stay
there, safe far away
on the ramparts of your paradise
watching the fire
and the iron from heaven
Not ours

And after the rains appear
at night on the horizon
Autumn Clouds

Poem 2026
Amsterdam, 2019-01-12
Palastu >> Pilistu >> 1. Philistines 2. Palestine
Gaza in 2006:
June - Operation Gishmey Kayitz (Summer Rains)
November - Operation Ananei Stav (Autumn Clouds)
Collection: The Praised One

Zywa Homo desens

A rebel or a promise?
Our eldest son failed
we do have to keep silent about him

Another hard lesson
the bosses of the soldiers
are our bosses

We will have to concede
no longer believe
that it will ever be all right

that there will ever be a House
indestructible, with in the corner
a rejected stone

We will not build that house
but perhaps we will become rich
enough to buy the weapons

with which we can conquer the land
as ruthless as the tribes
led by Joshua

Poem 1134
Amsterdam, 2017-03-05
Desens = failing, missing
Head of the corner: Psalm 118:22, Mark 12:10
Jesus Christ, the Jewish pretender to the throne
Jehoshua / Joshua / Jesus = JHWH is salvation
Collection: The King

Zywa The dyke reeves' Last Messages

Because I am responsible
as far as possible
I have to
immerse myself in the life

of the rivers in the delta
know the seasons
the wind and the tides
to have any chance

If I were the water myself
I would look for openings too
press on the weak spots
and break through where possible

not be brackish, smothered
evaporating in the blazing sun
of settlers who surround me
with concrete walls and soldiers

It would be all or nothing to me

Poem 1023
Amsterdam, 2017-02-16
Four former directors of the General Security Service oppose to the government policy (Yediot Ahronot, November 14^th, 2003)
Collection: Short Sermons

Zywa Operation D

Checkpoints scare me,	settlers go ahead
All of them agree	with Operation D

I can see it, I can feel it everywhere
Save me from suffocation, save me please

Checkpoints scare me,	settlers go ahead
All of them agree	with Operation D

Are you listening, do you understand?

Dogs chasing me, I must flee
Children howl for a brawl,	they see a murderer in me

Soldiers spill our blood
Their leaders feign	patience!
It's a lie	You must leave!
There's no compassion	You must leave!
They dare me Go away,	you must leave!
shouting Get out of here,	you must leave!
It's not your country,	you must leave!
You are an enemy,	you must leave!
Where can I go? What can I do?	Tell me, tell me please!

I can shout whatever I want,	but we can't stay here anyway
since all of them agree	with Operation D

Beware, beware
There's something fishy,	danger everywhere!

They'll always blame us	You must leave!
What can we do?	You must leave!
Not keep on waiting	You must leave!
Stand up and fight	You must leave!
Break the shackles	You must leave!
Stop humiliation	You must leave!
The world is watching,	the world does see
how we are driven out	We are driven out!

I do not want to fight,	just equal rights!
All of them agree	with settling
all of them agree	with checkpoint bullying
all of them agree	with Operation D

Poem 1022
Amsterdam, 2017-02-15
Mississippi Goddam (Nina Simone) / Plan D, Israel, March 1948 - 1964
Plan D: Israel, March 1948
Song "Mississippi Goddam" (album "Nina Simone in concert")
Collection: The Praised One
Tribute to: Simone, Nina

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