I had to play with

him and discover myself --


while the door was locked.


Ik moest vaak met hemIch musste mit ihm
spelen, mezelf ontdekken --spielen und mich entdecken --
met de deur op slot.Die Tür verschlossen.

Poem S2715
Amsterdam, 2025-06-13
sex is a way for people (Rupi Kaur) - 2020
Poem from the collection "home body", 1st section "mind"
Collection: Truder
Tribute to: Kaur, Rupi 
 

Without her knowledge

it is not real, yet it is --


really happening.


Het is wel niet echt,Es ist zwar nicht echt,
buiten haar medeweten --ohne ihr Wissen, aber --
maar het gebeurt echt.es passiert wirklich.

Poem S2640
Amsterdam, 2025-04-13
Forum "without her knowledge"
On the closed forum "à son insu" ("without her knowledge") of the dating site coco.gg, Dominique Pelicot invites men to have sex with his drugged wife
Collection: Untwisted
 

Zywa Night by day

She lies, no, she does not
she is sick, terribly sick
Let us pray for her
save her if she wants it
if she kneels for mercy

We appeal to her
conscience, her shame
and to the night
in which no one can live
who has known the light

She is hysterical
sedate her
cut it out
of her brain
or short-circuit it

Out-of-home placement
not for protection
but cast out
as a liar
among the righteous

Poem 5638
Amsterdam, 2025-03-27
I was a child (Geertjan Lassche) - 2025
Documentary "Ik was een kind": the story of Anneloes van 't Licht
Until recently, a woman who made a scene about her husband's adultery could be treated for hysteria with a lobotomy or electric shocks
Princess Nyctimene ('she who stays up at night') was turned into an owl as punishment for fleeing into the forest after being raped by her father
Nyctimene is also the name of a genus of bats

Collection: Half The Work
Tribute to: Lassche, Geertjan 
 

With 'I love you' he

exonerates himself and --


I'm declared insane.


Met 'ik houd van jou'Mit 'ich liebe dich'
pleit mijn broer zich vrij, en ik --spricht sich mein Bruder frei, mich --
word voor gek verklaard.erklärt man verrückt.

Poem S2501
Amsterdam, 2025-01-06
Art & Lies, A piece for three voices and a bawd (Jeanette Winterson) - 1994
Novel, chapter Picasso #3
Collection: Truder
Tribute to: Winterson, Jeanette 
 

Mum notices it,

still, it doesn't really happen --


because no one knows.


Mama merkt het wel,Mama merkt es schon,
maar toch gebeurt het niet echt --doch es passiert nicht wirklich --
want niemand weet het.weil niemand es weiß.

Poem S2498
Amsterdam, 2025-01-03
Collection: Bruises
 

Her pious father

locks me up and my girlfriend --


he pulls to the bed.


Haar vrome vaderIhr frommer Vater
sluit mij op en mijn vriendin --sperrt mich ein, meine Freundin --
trekt hij mee naar bed.zieht er auf das Bett.

Poem S1998
Amsterdam, 2023-11-15
Testimony (Ronelda Kamfer) - 2016
Poem "Getuienis" (collection "Hammie")
Collection: The Note Tree
Tribute to: Kamfer, Ronelda 
 

Zywa Angry Angel

You cannot sleep?
It will come
It's the clock genes

Just come over here
and lie down with me
Close to each other
You are so sweet

It tied knots in me
that are not quite undone yet
I was a saviour, an angel

not yet used
to her body, a child
who does know heaven
but not yet earth

It recurred
Anger grew inside me
Powerless aversion

It recurred
And with others
I lost my wings
A worthless angel

Poem 5216
Amsterdam, 2023-05-22
Clock genes: 24-hour rhythm / circadian rhythm (circa-dies = approximately a day)
Collection: Bruises
Dedicated to: Maria Godschalk 
 

Uncle touches me,

my breasts, well, I will let him --


he's so pathetic.


Oompje raakt me aan,Der Onkel berührt
mijn borsten, ach, vooruit maar --meine Brüste, na, lass ihn --
hij is zo zielig.er ist armselig.

Poem S1463
Amsterdam, 2022-07-09
Like it or not - Faxing to Ger #4 (Nicolien Mizee) - 2021
Diary-novel "Hoog en laag springen - Faxen aan Ger #4"
Collection: Out of place
Tribute to: Mizee, Nicolien 
 

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
Book of Jubilees 4:33, Genesis 9:22
Canaan = "low" (lands) / "subjugated" (land) / (land of) "purple"

Collection: A Home
 

Oops, I'm home alone

today, with daddy, which means --


it's my turn again.


Oei, ik ben alleenOh, ich bin allein
thuis vandaag, met papa, dus --zu Hause, mit Papa, oh --
is het weer mijn beurt.ich bin wieder dran.

Poem S1359
Amsterdam, 2022-03-19
My true story (Karin Bloemen) - 2019
Autobiography "Mijn ware verhaal"
Collection: Whirligig Scribbler
Tribute to: Bloemen, Karin 
 

It is natural,

says daddy, mama approves --


because she doesn't know.


Het is normaal, zegtEs ist ganz normal,
papa, mama vindt het goed --sagt Papa, Mama stimmt zu --
want ze weet het niet.weil sie es nicht weiß.

Poem S1355
Amsterdam, 2022-03-17
My true story (Karin Bloemen) - 2019
Autobiography "Mijn ware verhaal"
Collection: Whirligig Scribbler
Tribute to: Bloemen, Karin 
 

Zywa Summer wound

The door is open
Something happened and I
don't dare to move

Was there a man?
Where are her clothes?
What is this smell?

Should I call the police?
Her hand lies protectively
between her legs

Did she hear me?
She doesn't look up, something
is wrong, she is despondently

slumped against the bed
the sheets pulled to the floor
under her bare lower body

the clip still in her hair

Poem 4066
Amsterdam, 2021-10-30
Summer Interior (Edward Hopper) - 1909
Painting
Collection: NightWatch
Tribute to: Hopper, Edward 
 

Zywa I started to smell

Dad blew bubbles
against my belly
and between my legs

Dad woke me up
to pee, and massaged me
inside

     On his calendar
     Dad puts signs
     for the safe times

     I started to smell
     of fear, infected
     by the smell of my sisters

          That invited him
          You can come, it's safe
          we dare not do anything

          or say anything
          we want to cover it up
          But no perfume is strong enough

               I look seriously
               in the mirror
               and I don't see it

               I am praised
               for my beautiful drawings
               of tortured women

Poem 3827
Amsterdam, 2021-05-27
Falling is like flying (Manon Uphoff) - 2019
Book "Vallen is als vliegen"
Collection: Bruises
Tribute to: Uphoff, Manon 
 

Zywa I prefer to be silent

You are still living in my skin
and in my belly, my cells
still remember everything
as if your spirit has crept into them

I am not safe
sometimes you wake up
under a different name
threatening

to repeat what should never have been
What can I do?
What should I call out?
I know your rumpelstiltskin names
They hurt me

with impotence and panic
for what can happen
I rather am silent about it
with wise, dear people
who see my suffering anyway

Poem 2927
Amsterdam, 2020-04-15
Collection: Bruises
Dedicated to: Maria Godschalk 
 

Dad's whiskey spirit

comes inside me, it's a dream --


It wasn't one at first.


Papa's whiskeygeestPapas Whiskey-Geist
komt in mij, het is een droom --kommt in mich, ach, dieser Traum --
die eerst geen droom was.war zuerst kein Traum.

Poem S0969
Amsterdam, 2019-11-18
Divorce, Thy Name Is Woman (Anne Sexton) - 1976
Poem (collection "45 Mercy Street")
Collection: Truder
Tribute to: Sexton, Anne 
 

Daddy, mam's friend has

my photo, he kisses me --


and you are not there.


Papa, mama's vriendPapa, Mamas Freund
heeft mijn foto, hij kust mij --hat mein Foto, er küsst mich --
en jij bent er niet.und du bist nicht da.

Poem S0966
Amsterdam, 2019-11-16
The Death of the Fathers - 5. Friends (Anne Sexton) - 1972
Poem (collection "The Book of Folly")
Collection: May the Might
Tribute to: Sexton, Anne 
 

Zywa He said sweet things

He said sweet things

to make me think
he loved me and I
was very special to him

I was so young –
available, in his eyes
and in his hands

At first sweet, so sweet
but a game
that had nothing to do with me

We shared a secret
he said, and I doubted
until I no longer knew

I hoped to escape
the familiar intimacy
I dreamed of love

Poem 2499
Amsterdam, 2019-11-06
Collection: Froend
Dedicated to: Maria Godschalk 
 

Zywa I want to fly

Is there a language for
me, who I am?

I want to speak out
otherwise I cannot exist

I refuse to languish
in a corner

the filth

of what happened
not pretend that

nothing has happened
and live around it

around myself, around
the discomfort in me

about the nice experiences
which let the other ones in

the unnameable
things he did

that made me fall
without flying

Poem 2177
Amsterdam, 2019-03-23
Falling is like flying (Manon Uphoff) - 2019
Book "Vallen is als vliegen"
Collection: Bruises
Tribute to: Uphoff, Manon 
 

Zywa Confused

Maybe
it was a dream, fairy-tale
real for him

when he came in and saw me
lying on the bed
without waking up

Maybe
he first looked for a while
until it, all of a sudden, happened by itself

and was done quickly
I screamed
and he fled confusedly

Maybe
he wanted to stay, satisfied, to continue
enjoying my sleeping beauty

A voice asked where we were
I walked out, through the garden
and overlooked the street

Poem 1213
Amsterdam, 2017-03-13
Collection: Webgarden
 

Zywa Next-door

Nowadays it is quiet next-door
The son coaches the junior football team
and does the shopping
father is with the archery club

I was in bed and couldn't do anything
when the girl next-door cried out
It was the night of the club
father wouldn't be home until late

She moved a few months later

Sometimes I see her totter
on stiff legs wide apart
in which her scream grew rigid
She avoids people

Again I can't do anything
When I see her brother
I don’t know how to punish
and help him

Poem 113
Amsterdam, 2008-07-27
Collection: Pending rain
 

Zywa Belly-lock

I keep your letter sealed
until it is too old
to wish to read it

that it could have been otherwise:
pronounced what happened
in me

I don't think what you think
of me
I only think you are
in me

I don't see what you see
in me
I only see you
growing in me

but I keep that
to myself

Poem 67
Train Amsterdam-Nijmegen, 2007-04-13
Collection: Bruises
 

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