Zywa

Zywa The citadel

The towers project like shadows
towards heavenly peace
No one is on guard
Soldiers sneak
through the small gates

Is there an enemy, somewhere
in the city? People
sit in the dark, hungry
at their tables, chained
to their fear

They listen
to the hoof-beats of our horses
in the quiet streets and ignore them
No one comes to hear
what our message is

Poem 5733
Amsterdam, 2025-12-08
Five poems by Frida Vogels
December 22nd, 1959 - The besieged city no one can approach
October 4th, 1962 - The enemy is in the city
June 3rd, 1965 - The sentry, who merely keeps watch, motionless
July 22nd, 1965 - The citadel
November 13th, 1965 - No one threatened the city anymore; as was the custom
Collection: Self-portraits
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida

Zywa Occupation

No more bicycles:
with the tram
No more trams:
on roller skates
until they break
On clogs
until raids close everything

No more electricity
No more candles
No more stolen oil
No more charcoal
No more trees
No more books
only the clothes on one's back

No more bread:
grinding wheat
in the coffee grinder
No more wheat:
cooking rye grains
No more rye:
begging tours

No more winter coats:
worn coats made of blankets
curtains on the beds
A cold house, hunger
and fear, and time
that stands still
at hope

Poem 5650
Amsterdam, 2025-06-28
In foreign parts - Chronicles (Frida Vogels) - 2024
'Hongerwinter': the Dutch famine of 1944-1945
Autobiography "In den vreemde - Kronieken", chapter 'Oorlogsherinneringen' (Memories of war)
Collection: ThereFrom
Tribute to: Vogels, Frida

We're eating the meat

of nameless animals still --

unknown to Noah.



We eten het vlees	Wir essen das Fleisch
van dieren die onbekend --	von namenlosen Tiere --

waren aan Noach.	Noach unbekannt.

Poem S2455
Amsterdam, 2024-11-21
the Passion (Jeanette Winterson) - 1987
Novel, chapter 1 the Emperor
Collection: Here &Now&
Tribute to: Winterson, Jeanette

The flag: blue - white - red,

fingers - goose pimples - noses,

campaign in Russia.



De vlag: blauw - wit - rood,	Flagge: Blau - Weiß - Rot,
vingers - kippenvel - neuzen,	Finger - Gänsehaut - Nasen,

veldtocht in Rusland.	Feldzug in Russland.

Poem S2454
Amsterdam, 2024-11-19
the Passion (Jeanette Winterson) - 1987
Novel, chapter 1 the Emperor
Napoleon's campaign in Russia (white-blue-red versus the French tricolour blue-white-red)
Collection: Truder
Tribute to: Winterson, Jeanette

Tomorrow they will

sound the retreat, now it's a --

ball for the soldiers.



Morgen blazen ze	Morgen ziehen sich
de aftocht, nu is het bal --	die Soldaten zurück, jetzt --

voor de soldaten.	ist der Ball für sie.

Poem H5039
Amsterdam, 2024-11-03
La Follia / The follies of Spain (Marin Marais) - 1701
Composition "Les folies d'Espagne" for one or two violas da gamba, performed by Nicolas Altstaedt (cello), Thomas Dunford (lute) and Jonathan Cohen (harpsichord) in the Music Hall on the IJ on November 3rd, 2024
Collection: Migration
Composer: Marais, Marin

Zywa Waiting for the new moon

The call-up thins out the houses
and combs out the neighborhoods
makes our lives incomplete

Even without the fallen, we already
suffer loss, loading the seconds
every day for a while

with timeless desires
and the nights remain dark
no matter how many stars

we wait for the new moon
and the living return of our
warriors and their attackers

no longer a closed border
no weakening and dividing
to rule over nothing

but a falsified nation
no mutual destruction
of wealth and families

Poem 5458
Amsterdam, 2024-03-12
Mobilisation
Since January 1st, 1970, computers count time in seconds
Collection: Moons

The war in those days

was manageable with us --

We were still young then.



Het was toen oorlog,	Damals herrschte Krieg,
maar bij ons ging het nog wel --	aber bei uns ging es schon --

en we waren jong.	Wir waren noch jung.

Poem H3899
Amsterdam, 2023-06-29
The filling station on the route - 1 (Jan Baeke) - 2013
Poem "Het tankstation op de route" - 1 (collection "Het tankstation op de route")
Collection: Stall
Tribute to: Baeke, Jan

Ambulances, blood-

bags driving to the border:

a war is coming!



Ambulances, bloed-	Krankenwagen, Blut-
zakken rijden naar de grens:	beutel fahren zur Grenze:

een oorlog op komst!	ein Krieg wird kommen!

Poem S1617
Amsterdam, 2022-12-29
Russia early 2022, on the border with Ukraine
Collection: BloodTrunk

The crows are cawing,

and the magpies hop around --

No war for a while.



De kraaien krassen	Die Krähen krächzen,
en de eksters huppen rond --	die Elster hüpfen herum --

Even geen oorlog.	Momentan kein Krieg.

Poem H3092
Egmond aan Zee, 2021-10-27
The Book and the Brotherhood (Iris Murdoch) - 1987
Novel
Collection: Stall
Tribute to: Murdoch, Iris

Arrange everything

for a pleasant stay, like that --

soldiers are at war.



Alles regelen	Alles einrichten
voor een aangenaam verblijf:	für eine bequeme Zeit:

zo voert men oorlog.	so wird Krieg geführt.

Poem H3012
Amsterdam, 2021-08-15
The Red and the Green (Iris Murdoch)) - 1965
Novel
Collection: Dreams of love
Tribute to: Murdoch, Iris

Ruins & Remains:

life is quiet and festive --

the war continues.



Puin & Restanten:	Ruinen, Reste:
het leven zwijgt en viert feest --	wir schweigen und wir feiern --

de oorlog gaat door.	der Krieg geht weiter.

Poem H2429
Amsterdam, 2019-04-06
Ruins & Remains (Wolfert Brederode) - 2019
Performed on April 6^th, 2019 in het Orgelpark, by Wolfert Brederode, the Matangi Quartet and Joost Libaart
Collection: ORG anp ark

Zywa Blue angels

I came here to keep the peace
but I am waiting for nothing
watching nothing

and recording it
in the logs
of the writing angels

with their sky-blue helmets
powerless against the thirst for blood
and nauseous from the smell

of the vomit in my mouth
while the ambulances sneak away
and the city is sprayed clean

Poem 2171
Amsterdam, 2019-03-21
Blue helmets
Collection: The Praised One

Zywa Falcon

Alone, with stale bread, sweet cake
and water bags under the stones
against the sun, on top of the hill
Like a falcon

Moon-cold sky, my mate
dozing under a sail, with a finger
sieve I sift the thin stars around
the Coffin

Picking up stones, arranging them in a row
roll-proof, by size, by smoothness
and colour, sorting out the facts
Thinking

Think falcon, think patience, think patience
The enemy comes, this is an ambush
Think falcon, not couch, cushions
not woman

Watch and pray Not my will
but Thine, together with me
the angels will fight relentlessly
I am not alone

Poem 2123
Amsterdam, 2019-02-25
Lookout post
Syria (ar-Raqqa in 2014)
Great Bear / Big Dipper (China) / Coffin (Arabia)
Collection: Short Sermons

Zywa Skirmishes

It doesn't make any sense
the men do not wage war
They are too old and too wise
they remain sensible
Nothing changes

The danger is pending
Where is the passion
the fierce infatuation
with each other's fading eyes
while the blood gushes?

They cannot even see each other
only in clear weather, the towers
of the city and the plumes of smoke
above the camp of the enemy
who sets off with bravado

to rob fishermen and shepherds
Everything valuable from the villages
furniture and healthy girls
are they shipping to dealers
in neutral ports

The trade makes them rich
The siege can wait, the need
to break through is after all the last
hope and fear
of gaining or losing fame

Poem 1919
Amsterdam, 2018-11-12
Guerilla, also in Troy
Collection: BloodTrunk

Zywa Roughskirts

It's Friday the thirteenth
again. I stay at home
due to circumstances:

a dragging wind
and storming sirens
The cameras break

taboos and peek
into windowless sleeping
rooms, front pieces

after the wind of roughskirts
who celebrate their gains
in stinking silence. I close

the curtains, my eyes and mouth
I'm not here, hello hello
don't you see I'm not here

and I can do nothing about it -
absent due to circumstances
which I can do nothing about

Poem 951
Amsterdam, 2017-01-13
Collection: On living on [2]

Pencil	Pumice	Rain	Loves
Compressed	Birds	Ifless	Photo
Tributes	Dedications	Composers	Home