Zywa Big Brother

My big brother wants to be the biggest
He quickly feels wronged
I would owe him

When I disagree with him
I get reproaches as if I'm betraying him
and conspiring with our sisters

As it suits him
he calls me
a little man (fascist)

a sneaky (secret agent)
a mama's boy (communist)
or a selfish (capitalist)

as if I'm taking something from him
and have no right
to exist

outside of hell
or of the colonialism
of his state within the state

Poem 5754
Amsterdam, 2025-12-14
Tractatus theologico-politicus (Theologico-Political Treatise, 1670, Baruch de Spinoza): [1] freedom of expression, [2] an independent judiciary, [3] no 'imperium in imperio' (a State within a State)
Derin devlet (Turkey in the 1990s: 'Deep State', Shadow State)

Collection: PumicePieces
Tribute to: Spinoza, Baruch de 
 

A quick marriage,

with a lasso around us --


to seal it tightly.


Een snelhuwelijk,Eine Schnell-Heirat,
met een lasso om ons heen --ein Lasso um uns herum --

als bezegeling.zur Besiegelung.

Poem S2169
Amsterdam, 2024-04-02
The Moor's Last Sigh (Salman Rushdie) - 1995
Novel, chapter "Spices from Malabar", (2-) 12
Collection: Sludge
Tribute to: Rushdie, Salman 
 

Zywa Raging

It's quiet in the cemetery
next door, new life rushes
past over iron bars
and this makes me crazy, it thunders
through the rooms where I played

I empty them out and I smoke them out
with Nag Champa, with tears
in my eyes I close the windows
and still the walls get thicker
from the raging, they eat it up

just like me, it haunts my mind
that there is a smell in the basement
where mammy in the rocking chair
commands that I am not as sweet
as her new friend

but I don't want a new friend
I want everything as it was
slow and simple
quiet and familiar, silence
without a graveyard

Poem 4072
Amsterdam, 2021-10-30
House by the Railroad (Edward Hopper) - 1925
Painting
Film "Psycho" (1960, Alfred Hitchcock)
Town of Haverstraw (New York)

Collection: NightWatch
Tribute to: Hopper, Edward; Hitchcock, Alfred 
 

Zywa Short Street

Hibbing is such a nowhere
bounded for months
by a cold that stops everything
and makes both sides of the street
disappear in snow

The resistance and the dreams
of the teenagers freeze
They keep their clothes on
in bed and have to be content
with ice flowers on the window

The neighbours live too close
to be friends
Grandma is watching them
groceries and curtains
the rain in the sky

In the morning she waves
to Albert who laughs
without teeth, he sniffs
drainpipes and marches
in time with the alphabet

You cannot live here
as a fortune-teller, you are old
within two years after school
then you must have left
or your future is known

Poem 2710
Amsterdam, 2020-02-17
Desolation Row (Bob Dylan) - 1965
Bob Dylan (Duluth, MN, 1941) left Hibbing, MN, in 1959
Song

Collection: Great Flow 
Tribute to: Dylan, Bob 
 

Not enough to eat,

not enough toilets, just peace --


with love and music.


Gebrek aan etenMangel an Essen
en wc's, alleen vrede --und Toiletten, nur Frieden --

liefde en muziek.Liebe und Musik.

Poem H2510
Amsterdam, 2019-06-28
Woodstock - 1969
"Woodstock" Music & Art Fair (August 15-18, 1969 in Bethel, New York)
Collection: Changing Times
 

Freedom brings peace, food

just appears out of the sky --


Joy of brotherhood.


Vrijheid brengt vrede,Freiheit bringt Frieden,
het voedsel valt uit de lucht --das Essen fällt aus der Luft --

Feest van broederschap.Fest der Bruderschaft.

Poem H2511
Amsterdam, 2019-06-28
Woodstock - 1969
"Woodstock" Music & Art Fair (August 15-18, 1969 in Bethel, NY)
- Army helicopters supply the visitors
- Liberation of Europe in 1945
- Manna for the Hebrews on their Exodus

Collection: Changing Times
 

Zywa Nixa (MO)

Oh, you noble knights
and wise old women
I couldn't care less

about advice and pity
what do you know

about this nix city
or the commotion in my heart
you can't see the blood

flow to my face, my lips
twitching, my smile telling

what I won't say or write
you can't hear the charm
of my voice, I know

my problems
better than you do

Poem 2142
Amsterdam, 2019-03-09
Nixa (MO) = Nothing but a crossroads
Collection: Inflictions
Dedicated to: Siera Mayhew 
 

Zywa Endorphin sweets

Sometimes I need someone
let us have a chat
meet somewhere here
or in a conversation box
we could laugh together
and share some
endorphin sweets
cutting isn't enough

red lines, welling up
from my heart
the kerfs of my tribe
saw teeth, welling up
from my heart
and read my poetry
red lines, welling up
from my heart

Poem 2143
Amsterdam, 2019-03-09
The Niuachi = People of the River Mouth, the Missouria tribe
Collection: Inflictions
Dedicated to: Siera Mayhew 
 

Hanging in the air

between dead and dead they are


alive -- their hair blows.


Hangend in de luchtHängend in der Luft
tussen dood en dood levenzwischen tot und tot leben

ze nog -- hun haar waait.sie noch -- ihr Haar weht.

Poem S0264
Amsterdam, 2014-12-05
Photo of September 11th (Wislawa Szymborska) - 2002
Twin Towers, "Nine Eleven", 2001
Gedicht "Fotografia z 11 wrzesnia" (collection "Chwila")

Collection: Here &Now&
Tribute to: Szymborska, Wislawa 
 

 

 
Breakfast
Ashland, 1993-10-14
Paul brings breakfast (Comfort Inn, Ashland, New Hampshire)
Collection: Photo's 1993
 

 

 
Road (autumn)
Ashland, 1993-10-14
Winona Lake (New Hampshire)
Collection: Photo's 1993
 

 

 
Lake (autumn)
Franconia, 1993-10-12
Franconia Notch (New Hampshire)
Collection: Photo's 1993
 

 

 
Tree (autumn)
Shelburne, 1993-10-10
Shelburne Museum (Vermont)
Collection: Photo's 1993
 

 

 
Texas
Beek (Berg en Dal), 1982-11-12
India ink on paper
Collection: Pencil 
 

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