Politicians drift,

because The Majority --


doesn't know what they want.


De politiciDie Politiker
zwalken, want De Meerderheid --treiben herum: Die Mehrheit --

wil steeds iets anders.weiß nicht, was sie will.

Poem S2368
De Koog, 2024-09-20
Requiem for a friend (Han Voskuil) - 2002
Novel "Requiem voor een vriend", chapter 1951-1956, August 7th, 1954 - Amsterdam, Han Voskuil and Jan Bruggeman ('Breugelman')
Collection: Elude
Tribute to: Voskuil, Han 
 

Really profound thoughts

are undesirable guests --


So we keep them short.


Diepe gedachtenTiefe Gedanken
zijn ongewenste gasten --sind unerwünschte Gäste --

We houden ze kort.Wir halten sie kurz.

Poem S2329
Amsterdam, 2024-08-28
Collection: The light of words
 

Art misleads you to

think you understand something --


and to stop thinking.


Kunst misleidt mensen.Kunst täuscht die Menschen.
Ze denken iets te snappen --Sie denken, sie verstehen --

en denken niet meer.und denken nicht mehr.

Poem S2311
Amsterdam, 2024-08-13
Art and Eros (Iris Murdoch) - 1980
Play "[Acastos -] Art and Eros", a Platonic dialogue
Collection: Longing and Loss
Tribute to: Murdoch, Iris 
 

I cannot do it,

please do it on my behalf --


and believe for two.


Zelf kan ik het niet,Ich kann es nicht selbst,
toe, doe jij het namens mij --tu es in meinem Namen --

en geloof voor twee.und glaube für zwei.

Poem S2294
Amsterdam, 2024-08-03
Henry and Cato (Iris Murdoch) - 1976
Novel, part One, Rites of passage
Collection: Longing and Loss
Tribute to: Murdoch, Iris 
 

Envious people

disapprove of many things --


A job: yes, work: no.


Wie afgunstig isWer missgünstig ist,
keurt veel af, een baan wil je --missbilligt vieles, ein Job:

wel, maar werken niet.schon, arbeiten: nein.

Poem S1955
Amsterdam, 2023-10-12
Begging to Be Black (Antjie Krog) - 2009
Book, thoughts on South Africa during a stay in Berlin (December 10th, 2007)
Collection: Shelter
Tribute to: Krog, Antjie 
 

Waiting for the train

while lying down on the track --


is not leadership.


Op de trein wachtenAuf den Zug warten,
terwijl je op de rails ligt --während man auf dem Gleis liegt --

is geen leiderschap.ist keine Führung.

Poem S1908
Amsterdam, 2023-09-09
Neither a wise man (Dwight Eisenhower) - 1952
"Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him." (Dwight Eisenhower, in Time on October 6th, 1952)
Collection: High gear
Tribute to: Eisenhower, Dwight 
 

Doing nothing, just

sitting, watching and waving --


And not even that.


Nietsdoen, wat zittenNichts tun, da sitzen,
te kijken en te wuiven --mich umschauen und winken --

En zelfs dat niet eens.Und nicht einmal das.

Poem S1801
Amsterdam, 2023-06-22
The free bird and its cages - The history of a domicile (Simon Vestdijk) - 1957
Roman "De vrije vogel en zijn kooien - De geschiedenis van een domicilie", chapter 2-1 [1919]
Collection: Inmost [1]
Tribute to: Vestdijk, Simon 
 

I think about it

all day, so actually --


I'm practising hard!


Ik wil het, ik denkIch denke ständig
er steeds aan, dus eigenlijk --daran, also eigentlich --

oefen ik heel hard!übe ich sehr hart!

Poem S1792
Amsterdam, 2023-06-10
Child between four women (Simon Vestdijk) - 1972
Reluctance (for example to exercises on the piano)
Novel "Kind tussen vier vrouwen", written in 1933, § 4 (AD 1907)

Collection: Inmost [1]
Tribute to: Vestdijk, Simon 
 

Zywa The deputy

With the proceeds, he bought the bank
the water company and computer halls
Modern Monopoly. He invested
in advanced filters and the internet

With a wink he kept his title
Landlord. Ah, the good old days
Now we are the owners, we pay
the subscriptions and pay off our debt

Things are going well, fewer members
are active, there is talk on the sidelines
and self-interested owners
collect proxies

The administrator acts
opportunistically and follows
the outside world
There is a call

for another system:
with so little involvement
a transfer of power will do -
blank until business is done

Poem 5227
Amsterdam, 2023-05-29
Democratic decision tot delegate executive, legislative, and judicial powers to one person of group of super-rich
Landlord / Corps noble (noble body), Corps social (social body) / Aristocracy, Oligarchy
Association of Homeowners / Corps législatif (legislative body) / Democracy
Delegate / Corps commun (communal body) / Populist totalitarianism (Ochlocracy)

Collection: The drama
 

A beautiful film,

but really too heart rending --


to give it a thought.


Wel een mooie film,Wunderschöner Film,
maar echt veel te aangrijpend --aber wirklich zu fesselnd --

om bij stil te staan!um dran zu denken.

Poem S1771
Amsterdam, 2023-05-22
A lightly inhabited island - Faxing to Ger #5 (Nicolien Mizee) - 2022
Diary novel "Een licht bewoond eiland - Faxen aan Ger #5", June 30th, 2000
Collection: In the shadow
Tribute to: Mizee, Nicolien 
 

Nothing is beyond

my reach, since detached I don't --


reach for anything.


Er ligt niets buitenNichts ist außerhalb
mijn bereik, sinds ik onthecht --meiner Reichweite, seit ich --

nergens meer naar reik.nach nichts mehr reiche.

Poem S1734
Amsterdam, 2023-04-13
The time of the angels (Iris Murdoch) - 1966
Novel, § 5Variant:
Everything's beyond
my reach, since detached I don't --

reach for anything.

Collection: Dreams of love
Tribute to: Murdoch, Iris 
 

No one has warned him

about it, without a doubt --


he already knew.


Niemand waarschuwdeKeiner hatte ihn
hem ervoor, ongetwijfeld --davor gewarnt, zweifellos --

wist hij het allang.wusste er es schon.

Poem S1698
Amsterdam, 2023-03-13
Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Gabriel García Márquez) - 1981
Novel "Crónica de una muerte anunciada", page 23
Collection: Dream flight
Tribute to: García Márquez, Gabriel 
 

Between a problem

and the actual action --


lies a nowhereland.


Tussen een probleemZwischen Problemen
en het in actie komen --und tatsächlicher Handlung --

ligt een nergensland.liegt ein Nirgendwo.

Poem S1679
Amsterdam, 2023-02-16
Don't be a loaf (Ellen Deckwitz) - 2023
Column "Wees geen eikel" (in NRC on February 16th, 2023)
Nowhereland: Limbo, after: Limbus puerorum = Antechamber of heaven for unbaptised infants

Collection: Death on Cast
Tribute to: Deckwitz, Ellen 
 

From doing nothing

I get hungry, I wobble --


and wait for myself.


Van al het nietsdoenIch werde hungrig
krijg ik honger, ik wiebel --vom Nichtstun, ich wackle und --

en wacht op mezelf.warte auf mich selbst.

Poem S1559
Amsterdam, 2022-11-02
Collection: Greeting from before
 

Stop it! Stop your talks!

Or do you want me to think --


and make a mistake?


Hou op met je praat!Hör auf! Kein Quassel!
Wil je soms dat ik nadenk --Willst du, dass ich nachdenke --

en dan een fout maak?und Fehler mache?

Poem S1539
Amsterdam, 2022-10-19
#114 - Sir Bumble and the new thinking (Marten Toonder) - 1966
Comic strip #114 - "Heer Bommel en het nieuwe denken" (tiers 5689-5746), tier 5713
Collection: Puss & Lord
Tribute to: Toonder, Marten 
 

Today was a draft,

but tomorrow I will start --


a fresh piece of life.


Vandaag was een klad,Heute war Kladde,
maar morgen, dan begin ik --aber morgen fang ich an:

een heel nieuw leven.ein neues Leben.

Poem S1507
Amsterdam, 2022-09-07
Three Sisters (Anton Chechov) - 1901
Play "Tri sestry"
Collection: Shelter
Tribute to: Chechov, Anton 
 

An automatic

contract extension is ease --


instead of reason.


AutomatischeAutomatische
contractverlenging: gemak --Vertragsverlängerungen:

in plaats van verstand.leicht, nicht vernünftig.

Poem S1386
Amsterdam, 2022-04-07
Conservatism
Collection: Half The Work
 

Zywa Until here

In the dark down
of the tower only the cord
catches light, back and forth
while the bell is ringing

Immediately people flock
to the shouting secret
There is news, the latest news
and they comment on the rope

(decent people are unmasked
  their additional interests revealed
  and underground networks
  unraveled)

but they are particularly
curious about the hands
pulling the bell
there in the dark, down

in the tower, inside
the mind
that cannot be forced
to be silent

After that, the fresh breeze
from the louver holes soon blows
away, the clear sky becomes overcast
and people go

their separate ways again
after the solemn agreement
that it will never, ever
happen again

Poem 2304
Amsterdam, 2019-06-25
In Dutch, a whistleblower is called: Bell-ringer
"Non plus ultra" = until here and "no further"; here = the border of the world known to the Greeks, namely the Pillars of Hercules at Gibraltar and Monte Hacho

Collection: I am
 

Please take the pills now,

do it for me, for me too --


it is difficult.


Neem de pilletjesBitte, bitte, nimm
alsjeblieft nu in, voor mij --die Pillen jetzt ein, für mich --

is het ook moeilijk.ist es auch schwierig.

Poem S0877
Amsterdam, 2019-05-26
Letters from Genoa (Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer) - 2016
"Brieven uit Genua", February 25th, 2015
Collection: Palace of the night
Tribute to: Pfeijffer, Ilja Leonard 
 

I never go far

in my yard, I'm too afraid --


that I will get tired.


Achter in mijn tuinHinten im Garten
kom ik niet, ik ben te bang --komme ich nicht, ich fürchte --

dat ik dan moe word.müde zu werden.

Poem S0865
Amsterdam, 2019-04-28
The introduction - Faxing to Ger #1 (Nicolien Mizee) - 2017
Diary-novel "De kennismaking - Faxen aan Ger"
Collection: In the shadow
Tribute to: Mizee, Nicolien 
 

I really do love

him, although it's only love --


for the familiar.


Ik houd echt van hem,Meine Liebe ist
al is het alleen liefde --echt auch wenn es nur Liebe --

voor het vertrouwde.zum Vertrauten ist.

Poem H2330
Amsterdam, 2018-11-27
The Commune (Franca Treur) - 2014
Novel "De woongroep", chapter 41
Collection: Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the years 2010-2019
Tribute to: Treur, Franca 
 

A man simply wants

convenience, no worries, not --


the duty to think.


Een mens wil gemak,Will ich Bequemlich-
geen zorgen, en niet de plicht --keit, keine Sorgen, keine --

om na te denken.Pflicht zum Nachdenken?

Poem S0792
Vaison-la-Romaine, 2018-09-17
Atlas shrugged (Ayn Rand) - 1957
Novel, part 2 'Either - Or', chapter 1 'The man who belonged on earth'
Collection: Willegos
Tribute to: Rand, Ayn 
 

Zywa Dead days

I may want and know
anything, but it makes no sense
Yes sun, yes food, what else?
But I don't tolerate sounds

let alone that I have any energy
for love or a performance
which brings the day to life -
the dead days of being too tired

for myself and the world
Thinking is already difficult
and time is going too slow
to be able to change something

Lying is still the best
dreaming with closed eyes
that I am fit, and active
with nice clothes on

Poem 1754
Amsterdam, 2018-05-07
Collection: Greeting from before
 

Dividing people

into friends and enemies --


that's just indolence.


De mensen scheidenMenschen in Freunde
in vrienden en vijanden --und Feinde einteilen, das --

dat is gemakzucht.ist einfach Faulheit.

Poem S0533
Amsterdam, 2017-09-19
Diary 1958-1959 (Frida Vogels) - 2006
"Dagboek 1958-1959" - July 2nd, 1959, Milan
Collection: Beyond the Cape
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida 
 

The winners just wait

quietly in the forefront --


The future will come.


De winnaars wachtenDie Sieger warten
op hun voorpost rustig af --ruhig auf dem Vorposten --

want de toekomst komt.denn die Zukunft kommt.

Poem S0523
Ufhusen, 2017-08-25
Diary 1954-1957 (Frida Vogels) - 2005
"Dagboek 1954-1957" - August 29th, 1957, Rome
Collection: ThereFrom
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida 
 

There's always something,

something that is in my way --


even if it's me.


Altijd is er iets,Es gibt immer was,
iets dat me in de weg zit --etwas, das mich behindert --

al ben ik het zelf.auch wenn ích es bin.

Poem S0437
Amsterdam, 2016-11-27
Sir Bumble makes complete / The Completion (Marten Toonder) - 1981
Comic strip #168 - "Heer Bommel maakt volledig" / "Het volledig maken" (tiers 0849-0950), tier 854
Collection: Puss & Lord
Tribute to: Toonder, Marten 
 

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