With its tail upwards,

the lizard is falling down:


dragon without wings.


Met zijn staart omhoogMit dem Schwanz aufwärts
valt de hagedis omlaag:fällt die Echse hinunter --
draak zonder vleugels.Der kleine Drache.

Poem H0207
Amsterdam, 2012-01-25

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Animals: lizard 
 

I overheard friends

laughing, talking about me --


I disappoint me.


Toevallig hoor ikZufällig hör ich
vrienden over mij praten --Freunde über mich reden --
Ik val me tegen.Ich enttäusche mich.

Poem H0392
Train Harderwijk-Amsterdam, 2012-11-26

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Self-knowledge 
 

Cold rain being blown

under my hood, the shelter --


of the mosquito.


Een koude regenKalter Regen bläst
waait onder mijn capuchon --unter meiner Kapuze --
De mug komt schuilen.Die Mücke sucht Schutz.

Poem H0552
Amsterdam, 2013-08-13

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Safety: security / comfort 
 

No more war, now peace,

wouldn't everyone want that, but --


also die for it?


Geen oorlog, vrede,Kein Krieg mehr, Frieden,
dat wil iedereen wel, maar --das wollen alle, aber --
ook ervoor sterven?auch dafür sterben?

Poem S0187
Amsterdam, 2014-04-15

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Peace: and war 
 

The star-spattered sky:

a royal mantle wrapped --


around Mother Earth.


De sterrenhemel:Der Sternenhimmel:
een koninklijke mantel --ein königlicher Mantel --
om moeder aarde.um Mutter Erde.

Poem H1078
Amsterdam, 2014-12-04

Beautiful summer night (Jack Kerouac) (1968)
Poem "Beautiful summer night / gorgeous as the robes / of Jesus" (collection "Some western haikus", published in 2003)
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Earth: mother 
Tribute to: Kerouac, Jack 
 

Thumping, the tank shoots

fear in the sheltering eyes --


in people like me.


Dreunend schiet de tankDer Panzer schießt Angst
angst in schuilende ogen --in Augen, die Schutz suchen --
in mensen als ik.in Menschen wie mir.

Poem H1306
Amsterdam, 2015-08-19

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Violence:  
 

Zywa States General

Let's cooperate and liberate the world
from humanists and believers
because they do not believe
in mighty people

but in justice
Let's cooperate and free the world
Let money rule without borders
of virtue and let us cooperate

to make more power with a profit
See the foreigners on heaven's
edges look enviously over the fence
at us conquerors of the world

Let them look, they are not coming in!
We buy us safe and free, we don't have
to pray anxiously for our possessions
like small bosses, farmers and citizens

Because we shift the risks
We can count on poor people
the mercenaries of having nothing
to lose than their lives

Poem 607
Amsterdam, 2016-03-28

1650, The Hague
Ceiling painting in the meeting rooms

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Power: pride 
Keyword: Nederland% 
 

By practice you learn

a lot, but the question is --


what you want to do.


Al doende leer jeDurch Übung lernt man
heel veel, maar het is de vraag --viel, aber die Frage ist --
wat je wilt gaan doen.was man tun möchte.

Poem H1545
Vaison-la-Romaine, 2016-10-10

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Ambition 
 

Zywa The war on heaven on earth

My thoughts cry
at seeing and hearing the people
on terraces, the ferry and the news

I cry for wars that are never over
for the survivors and the witnesses around
the corner, who lived past the violence
and have not seen any dead people

that are also not over for their children
immaculate, innocent, naive
who claim
heaven on earth

which fails to happen, even though
those people shout toughly afraid
how great their heroes are
their nation, their past and future

and they shout who does not belong
who must leave
their right
or be held back

with fences and the hard way
of guns and starvation
in no-man's-land

Poem 874
Amsterdam, 2016-12-07

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Together: discord 
Keyword: Distance / Detachment 
 

Zywa Not a guest like a slave

I'm back, on my guard
in the streets of my youth
and the crying embrace

of amma and my sisters
on the banks where I've played
I won't leave here again

even if I have to fight for it
It is not in my hand
to die or to kill

No longer can I be an exile
a polite guest conforming
like a slave

I'm back, on my guard
in my own house, and you, brother
the oldest, you must be wiser

No king
can crown himself
at most he can be a servant

Poem 896
Amsterdam, 2016-12-16

600 BC
"Seven against Thebes" (Aeschylus, 467 BC)
"Phoenician Women" (Euripides, 410 BC)
1200 BC
"Mahabharata" ("The Great World")

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Freedom: 
Tribute to: Euripides 
Tribute to: Aischylos 
 

Zywa The siege

Just let them reason, get their right
in words as if we are talking

about the same, yes just let them
shoot, the State will not give in

to violence, blood does not write
evidence, only facts

reveal truth:
foreigners and relatives besiege

us, they yell threats
and demands, forsake peace

But we've got nothing to lose
we have everything, victory

or heaven, and they will be forgotten
not even mocked for their foolishness

of coming to kill us in their delusion
to be happy afterwards. Like cadavers

after slaughter, they will lie in the field
eaten by hyenas, jackals, rats

and worms from the underworld
Children will play with the bones

Poem 897
Amsterdam, 2016-12-16

600 BC
"Seven against Thebes" (Aeschylus, 467 BC)
"Phoenician Women" (Euripides, 410 BC)
2015-2017 ar-Raqqa

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: War: fight/resistance/guerrilla 
Tribute to: Euripides 
Tribute to: Aischylos 
 

Zywa Though unwillingly?

Do the right thing, though I don't want to
kill and be killed, but still
drive out tyranny for others

If that is the limit of my life
I can't go any further, and I don't want to
be confined to it

Who else could I be?
Because this lack of freedom I don't want
for those who are still young

So I renounce what I want
to withstand and I do what I want
to bequeath. I don't hold my tongue!

Poem 900
Amsterdam, 2016-12-18

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Ethics: practice 
 

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

Plan D: Israel, March 1948
Song "Mississippi Goddam" (album "Nina Simone in concert")

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Colonialism 
Keyword: Palestina% 
Tribute to: Simone, Nina 
 

Zywa In secret bosom

In my darkest clothes I slink
home from the front at night
stooping along the walls
of the cemetery, crawling
through the ditch around the checkpoint

Mama cries
and pushes me to the rear
to the raked bed
of tulips under the jasmine
where there is some kind of peace

I have to
do what I should do
just like my brother, who lies here
in our secret bosom
because he dared to speak about peace

when neighbouring villagers came
shouting from the barrel of a tank
that we should step aside
for their protection in the name
of the Supreme and the government

Poem 1024
Amsterdam, 2017-02-16

Gardens Speak (Tania El Khoury) (2014)
2010-2016 Talbiseh (Talbisi near Homs in Syria)
Theatre piece about clandestine graves (2014, Tania El Khoury)

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Power: compulsion / violence 
Tribute to: El Khoury, Tania 
 

Zywa PumicePieces

Being a volcano
with a thick skin
of fresh fertile soil

Wasting myself on it
with well-intentioned tinkering
and failing plans

Ignore the mess
It's not that bad
Excuses are unnecessary

Tomorrow is another day
for the holy got to be
and new wrongprovements

There's enough in bloom
to live on
between all solidifications and ashes -

the black of ardent ideals

Poem 1119
Amsterdam, 2017-04-05

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Life: effort 
 

Zywa Nothing more beautiful

There is nothing more beautiful than the green
of palms after a long journey
through the desert, fresh water
and a shelter from the sun
But the people

watch you, it's all boredom
trapped between thick walls
(Everything better than the streets
  that stink of cattle and shit
  The flies lick your eyes)

There is nothing more beautiful than the colours
of silk and gems on the body
of a handsome woman, pearls and perfume
in her clothes, between her breasts
so that the people

watch you and your husband
spoils you with desire
grapes and sweet cakes
It is a lovely dream
that it will not pass

Poem 1400
Amsterdam, 2017-06-09

Hind bint Abi Umayya (in year 626)
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Beauty: earth 
Keyword: Islam^ 
 

Zywa Mount Olympus, 73 years

The war had started
with a quarrel beginning small
but not knowing how to stop
and honour, stubbornness, resentment
the destructiveness of men

Far from the turmoil of battle
the big countries are meeting
on the round top of the Olympus
they drink nectar and look away
in the distance how to proceed

The rich cities are pathetic
they pity the humans
lying one by one
in the dust, but the sun is shining
and says: let them fight it out for themselves

One supports one
the other supports the other
each holds his position
and evilly hatches plans
waiting for the dark

pondering about secret actions
telling to be the wisest
looking ahead further and
giving advice in the field
to speed up the end

Poem 1748
Amsterdam, 2018-05-04

United Nations (since October 24th, 1945)
Ilias (Homer)

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: War: fight/resistance/guerrilla 
Dedicated to: Marjoleine de Vos 
Tribute to: Homerus 
Tribute to: De Vos, Marjoleine 
 

Zywa I know

I know the books of wisdom
and the rules how to live
without idols, yet modest

I know: a king does matter
he makes proud and servile
he sits on a throne of violence

I know: failure divides
nationalists in zealots
and dreamers, licking

their bitterness behind walls
of obdurate hope, dissatisfied
with a good life, yes I know

For 1000 years they've been fighting
in the name of the Force
of their desire

to enjoy princely
ignoring that peace is not free
and that there are no inhuman people

only people who pay the price
who know the words
and believe

in action

Poem 1762
Amsterdam, 2018-05-24

Jerusalem from AD 30 until now (from Saul to current anti-Palestinian nationalism)
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Pride 
Keyword: Jerusalem% 
 

Zywa Flag of stories

The zealots fight harder and harder
for their own state, own country
against the loss of their stories

Their frustration memory
the doom image of anonymously
and dispersed over the earth

having a good life
but not being chosen
and still not free

of strangers, their incomprehension
and selective envy and
above all the past

that obliges them under penalty
of loss of flag, loss of identity and of
everything that should cover the cargo

The cruelty from heaven
The far-flung death
The finally acquired land

and the permanent salvation
from the itinerant existence
of Nahor, Terah, Abram

and the daughters of the daughters
of the daughters of the daughters
of his daughters

Poem 1764
Amsterdam, 2018-05-25

Jerusalem now
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Pride 
Keyword: Jerusalem% 
 

Zywa Three walls

I came down from the Arafat
and could not reach the city
I encountered three walls

built of reason, that fruit
from the tree of knowledge
that tempting serpent

with the bad name
Devil
the devil who spoke

to Eve: do it, eat
and to Abraham: don't do it
don't sacrifice your son

who made his wife and son
rebellious
to stop him

but Abraham gathered stones
and chased away their words
which he already knew

from his own thoughts
that were too devout
for his reason

Seven times
seven times
he threw

Poem 1776
Amsterdam, 2018-05-31

Jamarat (three pillars)
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Religion: commandments 
Keyword: Saudi Arabia% 
 

Zywa Dim rooms

I walk through the village
The sun shines, the wind blows
a little through my hair

The shutters are closed
with chinks thin as needles
with long narrow eyes

My shadow doesn't fall inside
anywhere, there are none
in the dim rooms

where the light drearily
obscures what is going on
and what the consequences are

of everyone's comings and goings
The peeping people press me
as compelling devils

out of their eyes
out of the chinks in their lives
The sun upon me is insufferable

Poem 1785
Amsterdam, 2018-06-07

No Exit (Jean-Paul Sartre) (1943)
"L'enfer, c'est les Autres" ("Hell is other people"), from the one-act play "Huis clos" ("No Exit" / "Closed doors", 1943, Jean-Paul Sartre)
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Foreigners: different 
Tribute to: Sartre, Jean-Paul 
 

Zywa Celestial Pieces

It was a day without a date
an ordinary day, as far as we know

no grand prince was born
no city perished or world empire collapsed

It is very long ago, that day
of the black stone rain

It may have been a harsh punishment
although no one knew what for

certainly not later, so what else
could it have been

but a heavenly gift?
The small stones fell apart

but a large one remains
as a reminder

of the regained island
without its walls lost

as paradise, but a promise
to the faithful: one day

another day without a date
will be the last and the first

Poem 1860
Amsterdam, 2018-10-02

The Black Stone (meteorite, cornerstone of the Kaabah)
Under Caliph Umar ibn al-Khatt?b "al-Farooq", al-Jaz?ra, "the Island", the area of paradise between the Tigris and the Euphrates, is taken AD 642

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Religion: promise 
 

Zywa Sadness

Sometimes I feel I miss something:

the world of the book I finished
chances I seemed to have
unrealized plans

desires that do not pass
or my courage ducking
behind practical objections

Then I want a world of my own
to be special, or beautiful
with people who listen to me

but people don't do that
and that is sad, just as sad
as being common in common clothes

and being not so beautiful
obliged to live
in a not so beautiful world

Poem 2024
Amsterdam, 2019-01-11

Everything is illuminated (Jonathan Safran Foer) (2002)
Novel
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Sadness: disappointment 
Tribute to: Safran Foer, Jonathan 
 

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: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Violence: annihilation 
Keyword: Palestina% 
 

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)
The Beast: Daniel 7, Revelation 19:19-20 and 20:10

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Power: compulsion / violence 
Keyword: Palestina% 
 

Zywa Space Pieces

The earth is a thin shell
around glinting hot
stardust, fertile
rotating space pieces

metabolized by cold
and the warmth of the sun
friction and volcanoes
yotta's of parasites

Bosses and bankers
place your bets
with dynamite and diamond
drills, really

it's nobody's fault when it goes wrong
Perhaps there is a higher will

We don't have to ask ourselves
how it would deal with it

because we know the answer
within living memory: due to
providence it would
go the way it goes

Poem 2150
Amsterdam, 2019-03-13

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Evolution 
 

The Great Leader shouts:

We Are Great, The World Is Ours!


Who offers the most?


De Grote LeiderDer Große Führer
roept: De Wereld Is Van Ons!schreit laut: Die Welt Gehört Uns!
Wie biedt er het meest?Höchstes Angebot?

Poem S0857
Amsterdam, 2019-03-28

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Capitalism 
 

Zywa Thin curtains

It is windless
Plastic water in the canal
I'm having dinner with my mother

Then I linger at the crossroads
on the way home
My rooms are so empty

and you live nearby
I can go to you
and yet I can't

Behind the thin curtains
is the street, the city, alive
Nobody sees me

I'd like to read love letters
from you, confessions
that you never wrote to me

I keep thinking about that -
waiting for sleep, lying still
like a doll

Poem 2204
Amsterdam, 2019-04-13

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Sun: blazing 
Keyword: Summer^ 
 

Zywa Hedge and heaven

There is no thin part
in the hedge around my life
I have to push through it

My horns get entangled
Where is the helping hand
when you need it?

Should I die here
like Moses on the holy mountain
looking out over the promised land?

Heaven, save me the earth
of a premature grave, give wind
that bends away the branches, water
that exposes the roots, or fire

and I will endure it
until the wood is dry and will give way
If necessary, break off my horns
just do something, and love me

Poem 2222
Amsterdam, 2019-04-26

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Life: survival (effort) 
 

Zywa Upper boss

Get started! With a small box, some leaves
and some ants, and practise lightning
a flying storm and the heavenly hand

until you can do it
Then take a larger box
with more stuff and many more ants

Of course, they don't mess up
properly, so you shake the box
and occasionally you raise your higher hand

Then you can do it with two boxes
and having mastered that, you throw them
together and you appoint petty bosses

If a box fails, you set it on fire
You open a new one
and you give the boss a second chance

Well, it's so easy
to be the upper boss

Poem 2277
Amsterdam, 2019-06-18

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Power: manipulation 
 

Politics: fighting

hard for sufficient freedom --


to enjoy your life.


Politiek is hardDie Politik kämpft
strijden om genoeg vrijheid --hart für genügend Freiheit --
voor levensvreugde.für Lebensfreude.

Poem S0983
Roermond, 2020-01-11

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Freedom: 
Keyword: Politics^ 
 

Zywa Pottering bits and bobs

It itches in my head
the world turns and tumbles
on margins

of prestige and laws
and well-known artists
dance along

they want to make
something for thousands
of years, for everyone

an axis of eternal truth
and beauty, protected
from the own laws

of vandals, the army
of black beetles
on bomberdumberdays

the violence of time
in the margin of which people
potter for immortality

Poem 2701
Amsterdam, 2020-02-10

213 BC Book burnings commissioned by Qin, "First Emperor of China"
AD 385 Christians destroy the Hellenistic idols in Palmyra
AD 392 Christians destroy the most beautiful building in the world, the Serapeion in Alexandria and they burn all book rolls
AD 450 Christians remove the naked statues from the Parthenon in Athens

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Time: temporality 
 

Zywa #safe

The word has been indestructibly
poured, swept and guarded
it has leveled pimples and polyps
of boulders and trees
straightened noses and washed ears

with rules and shame
because no one should get lost
there is no more room for it
in the Street of the People

for the Book of Changes
teaches that
nothing can be done
in case of dissension

The word has become sugary-sweet
daily a pill against boredom, it has become
supervision and volcanic concrete
one sauce for goose and gander
it lives among us

To the south the gardens are empty
the Butterfly People live in the north and there
are also Tibetan museums with explanations
in the colours of the new era

because the word is for everyone
and except for those close to you
everyone is everyone to everyone
Everyone is everyone

Poem 2987
Amsterdam, 2020-05-27

Yijing (Book of Changes)
Since 1500, Europe imported sugar from Bharat (India) to make medicine pills
Piripkúra = People of the butterflies

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Safety:  
 


Come, Dambala, come
draw your trail in the sand
I want to read you

between the hills on which we live
come, eat the eggs, Papa, come
the blue and the brown ones

We are green from the weeds
from the deep sea, we are red
from the blood that flows

the white people don't go
to the black heaven
and there is no hell

There is only the fire
and the earth to consume
their corpses and to honour you

with their scent of decay
the sacrifice of their sins
come, Dambala, come
Poem 3010
Amsterdam, 2020-06-24

Dambala (1970)
Bahamas
Song (1970, Exuma; 1974, Nina Simone)

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Religion: 
Tribute to: Simone, Nina 
Tribute to: Exuma 
 

Shreds of promises,

once for sale: advertising


canvas in the weeds.


Flarden belofte,Versprechensfetzen,
te koop geweest: reclame-jemals zum Verkauf: Werbe-
doeken in het gras.tücher im Unkraut.

Poem H2751
Amsterdam, 2020-06-24

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Decay 
 

Zywa Ideal-real

Sometimes I dream of a new start
a new world, the earth
without human vices

only divine births
of helpfulness and wisdom
so that those words become obsolete

finally no more auditions
of imaginary comedians
with endless filth

their bundling of centuries
of coercion, humiliation, and abuse
in the joke of The Aristocrats

A world without me
only plants, animals
and avatars as a kind

of people who walk the virtual reality
of the golden means
of Aristotle

Poem 3120
Amsterdam, 2020-07-13

Virtus = virtue
Virtual = ideal-real
"The Aristocrats": outdo each other with taboo-breaking jokes
• Avatara = descent = the incarnation of a deity descending to restore the cosmic order
• In the virtue ethics of Aristotle (384-322), virtue is the golden mean between two opposite possibilities

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Ethics: 
Dedicated to: Godfrey N 
 

Zywa Teaching of the Eagle

The Old Man of the Mountain
teaches his wisdom
in the libraries

and the beautiful gardens
where, along wide paths
plants are always in bloom

At harvest time
the branches hang low
full of delicious fruits

Young women in light robes
tend the garden and the tables
where they serve the boys

with food, drink, and blissful kisses
all over their body, heavenly
as they say, it is there

as awaits them
if they follow the way, yes
they fancy they are there already

so spacious are their heads
from the resin in the biscuits
that death attracts them

Poem 3209
Amsterdam, 2020-10-15

Resin: hashish ("hashsha")
Assassins ("hash eaters") --> assassin (murderer)
Hassan-i-Sabbah (1034-1124), leader of the Assassins, residing in Alamut Castle ("Teaching of the Eagle", north-Iran) since 1090

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Religion: promise 
 

Poem 3783
Amsterdam, 2021-05-04

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: People: men 
 

We swim in the sea,

no one is flying to us --


no one is drowning.


Zomer, we zwemmenSommer, wir swimmen
in zee, niemand op de vlucht --im Meer, niemand auf der Flucht --
niemand die verdrinkt.niemand ertrinkt, hier.

Poem S1193
Amsterdam, 2021-06-20

World Refugee Day, June 20th
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Peace: 
 

Not a believer,

humanist, or socialist --


just solidary.


Geen gelovige,Kein Sozialist,
humanist, socialist --Gläubiger, Humanist, nein --
alleen solidair.nur solidarisch.

Poem S1200
Amsterdam, 2021-07-08

There is a conservative resistance against human sympathy
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Neighbours: love 
 

Men are walking rounds

in the pit in which they are --


locked in and locked out.


Mannen lopen rondMänner laufen her-
in de put, ingesloten --um im Schacht, eingeschlossen --
en uitgesloten.und ausgeschlossen.

Poem S1256
Amsterdam, 2021-10-10

The prison courtyard (Vincent van Gogh) (1890)
Painting
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Order: society 
Tribute to: Van Gogh, Vincent 
 

It is indolence

to build up tremendous walls --


without open doors.


Het is gemakzuchtEs ist nur Laschheit,
om muren op te richten --Wände zu bauen ohne --
zonder open deur.offene Türen.

Poem S1258
Amsterdam, 2021-10-10

Prisons / Immigration
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Order: society 
 

It is a symptom

of political failure:


waterbed-swinging.


Het is een symptoomEs ist ein Symptom
van falende politiek:der fehlenden Politik:
waterbed-deining.Wasserbett-Wellen.

Poem S1290
Amsterdam, 2021-12-01

Society as free flow mattress
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Power: powerlessness 
Keyword: Covid-19^ 
 

They like to believe

in a forged past history --


and make it legal.


Ze geloven graagSie 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: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Pride 
Keyword: Palestina% 
 

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: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Pride 
Keyword: Palestina% 
 

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 
Keyword: Greed 
Keyword: Palestina% 
 

It is war again,

so who is willing to fight?


Who's willing to die?


Het is weer oorlog,Es gibt wieder Krieg,
dus wie wil er meevechten?also wer will mitkämpfen?
Bereid te sterven?Bereit zu sterben?

Poem S1487
Amsterdam, 2022-07-29

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: War: combat readiness 
 

Who's willing to fight?

Talking doesn't stop the war, but --


our resistance can.


Wie wil er vechten?Wer möchte kämpfen?
Praten stopt de oorlog niet --Reden stoppt den Krieg nicht, nur --
Alleen ons verzet.unser Widerstand.

Poem H3395
Amsterdam, 2022-07-29

It is wrong to want to end the fighting, one must stop the attacker
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: War: fight/resistance/guerrilla 
 

Mankind turns the wheel

of fortune, and Mother Earth --


is overspeeding.


Draaiend aan het radDie Menschheit dreht das
van fortuin draait de mensheid --Rad des Schicksals, überdreht --
Moeder Aarde dol.die Mutter Erde.

Poem S1495
Scheveningen, 2022-09-02

Entertainment in the high wheel on the pier of Scheveningen, in times of overexploitation, natural disasters and war
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Earth: mother 
 

Something is wrong there,

fluttering from the branches --


the faded black rags.


Er klopt daar iets niet,Da stimmt etwas nicht,
wapperend aan de takken --flatternd von den Zweigenden --
de zwarte flarden.die schwarzen Fetzen.

Poem S1552
Amsterdam, 2022-10-27

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Violence: annihilation 
 

The war in the night,

roaring shadows till some day --


the sun will come back.


Oorlog in de nacht,Dröhnende Schatten
schaduwen ronken tot ooit --in der Nacht, bis irgendwann --
de zon weer opkomt.die Sonne aufgeht.

Poem S1594
Amsterdam, 2022-12-10

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: War: death / victims 
 

Wires in disorder,

shaky skeleton, defleshed --


only naked senses.


Draden in de war,Verwirrte Drähte,
een wankel skelet, ontvleesd --wackliges Skelett, entfleischt --
blote zintuigen.bloß nackte Sinne.

Poem S1605
Amsterdam, 2022-12-18

Falonne Mambu in Kinshasa (Kris Pannecoucke) (2022)
Russia bombs Ukraine's power grid
Falonne Mambu in a suit of electrical wires, 'Electric Woman', Kinshasa 2022 (photo Kris Pannecoucke)

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Violence: annihilation 
Keyword: Ukraina% 
Tribute to: Pannecoucke, Kris 
Tribute to: Mambu, Falonne 
 

Industry giants

give fire to their customers --


warm themselves with them.


IndustriereuzenIndustrieriese:
geven vuur aan hun klanten --er gibt den Kunden Feuer --
warmen zich aan hen.wärmt sich an ihnen.

Poem S1607
Amsterdam, 2022-12-18

Arnold Dumni in Kinshasa (Kris Pannecoucke) (2022)
Arnold Dumni in a suit of cigarette packs, Kinshasa 2022 (photo Kris Pannecoucke) - Comic strip "Robot Archie", the "Jungle Robot"
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Power: wielding 
Tribute to: Pannecoucke, Kris 
Tribute to: Dumni, Arnold 
 

Zywa Monument Streets

The Knitting Needles Museum
has a prudish name
that frightens the schoolchildren
and obscures the oppression
of desperate and raped women

The torture museum
and the war museum also
lack the inspiration
from a muse
They are monuments

and should be called that
With the unbuilt museums
of destroyed art and
ancient cultures, they can
fill a street in any city

Ecce homo, behold man
the noble beast, the master
of things and nothings -
virtual and vanished
worlds that are unlivable

Poem 4915
Amsterdam, 2023-01-04

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Memory: of people 
Keyword: Museum 
 

Bombing far away

is easy, difficult is --


to justify it.


Een bombardementEin Bombenangriff
is makkelijk, moeilijk is --ist einfach, aber schwierig --
het goed te praten.zu rechtfertigen.

Poem S1640
Amsterdam, 2023-01-13

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Violence: annihilation 
Keyword: Ethics: lie 
 

Again someone leads

a country to a new age --


called 'after the war'.


Opnieuw leidt iemandWieder führt jemand
een land naar een nieuwe tijd --ein Land in neue Zeiten --
van na de oorlog.'nach dem Krieg' genannt.

Poem S1643
Amsterdam, 2023-01-20

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Time 
Keyword: Politics^ 
 

Man, for other men

a wolf, but a human one --


so, in sheep's clothing.


De mens, voor mensenDer Mensch, für Menschen
een wolf, maar dan menselijk --ein Wolf, zwar ein menschlicher --
dus in schaapskleren.also im Schafspelz.

Poem S1649
Amsterdam, 2023-01-28

Latin proverb "Homo homini lupus [est]" ("A man [is] a wolf to another man")
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: People: fellow man 
 

More and more wealth finds

its way to power, weapons --


for sale everywhere.


Steeds meer rijkdom vindtImmer mehr Reichtum
de weg naar macht, overal --gelangt an Macht, überall --
zijn wapens te koop.Waffen zum Verkauf.

Poem S1852
Amsterdam, 2023-08-05

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Power: compulsion / violence 
 

Zywa Here... makes Borders

Here, on the fertile shores
of the crescent moon
we have a good life
We can make a start

draw borders
build a state
recruit boys and train them
to be border guards

We pay them well
That attracts girls
There is money for extra
children

boys
who don't have to work
in the fields or in town
but can become soldiers

and girls
to care for them
and to serve them, at home
where their place is

within the boundaries
of their husband's state
who serves the country's state
his paternal home

under our leadership
the hard way of the state
in which the tasks are split up
No more equality

Poem 5271
Amsterdam, 2023-09-04

The Patriarchs: The Origins of Inequality (Angela Saini) (2023)
Study "The Patriarchs: The Origins of Inequality" / "The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule"
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Together: state 
Keyword: Politics^ 
Tribute to: Saini, Angela 
 

Zywa Occupations

After the ritual you were healthy
but the medicine
made you burn again
Do you feel nauseous?

If only you had listened to me
He can't help it either
he needs those ice pops
against the ulcers in his mouth

Don't forget to buy batteries
and tomorrow you have to do it
like me, especially the bathroom
and don't put anything exactly in its place

then it will be clear
that you have cleaned
Oh this misery
all the noise

wet bedding
high deposit
and your family
isn't helping

Poem 5279
Amsterdam, 2023-10-02

Ole and Axel (Antjie Krog) (2006)
Poem "Die hiefel en die fiefel" (collection "Verweerskrif" ["Body bereft"])
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Poverty: visible 
Tribute to: Krog, Antjie 
 

Zywa Extinction

Flowers and insects, so many are gone
     Lives pass away, it is easy to see
Stop it, don't do it, don't let it go on
     Foreigners, friends, all our family, we

Businesses stop and employments will end
     Lives pass away, it is easy to see
Borders and shops being closed, it's a trend
     Foreigners, friends, all our family, we

All of us know, don't you see, don't you sense it?
     Lives pass away, it is easy to see
When are we willing, when shall we commit?
     Foreigners, friends, all our family, we

People who flee, many starve, many drown
     Lives pass away, it is easy to see
Peoples and nations come up and go down
     Foreigners, friends, all our family, we

Angels and trumpets are still on the loose
     Lives pass away, it is easy to see
Shall we count down, or say bo to a goose?
     Foreigners, friends, all our family, we

Poem 5333
Amsterdam, 2023-10-09

Turnip and chicory, salsify and leek (Drs. P) (1987)
Song "Knolraap en lof, schorseneren en prei"
Philosopher Lisa Doeland (1982)

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Earth: biosphere 
Tribute to: Drs. P 
Tribute to: Doeland, Lisa 
 

Zywa The beam scales

Judges weigh accomplished facts
   (against justice)
boards weigh costs and benefits
   (against set goals)
and representatives
   weigh desires and greed

   (against peace and prosperity)

They must work together
listen and talk things over
esteem no one less or more
than themselves

but chosen they are
a mirror of the voters
divided, and a partial
interest is easier


   (with distorted scales
     false weights and
     the stories that owners
     write behind the scenes
     to rationalise their theft)

to promote than a long-
term general interest

Poem 5342
Amsterdam, 2023-10-17

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Together: solidarity 
Keyword: Politics^ 
 

Man continues to

destroy, but not everything --


colours scorching-red.


De mensen blijvenMenschen zerstören
verwoesten, maar niet alles --weiter, aber nicht alles --
kleurt verzengend-rood.wird versengend-rot.

Poem H4228
Amsterdam, 2023-10-18

Mankind is incapable of completely destroying life on earth
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Violence: annihilation 
 

After the slaughter

there's silence, is anyone --


plotting acts of peace?


Na de slachtpartijNach der Schlachtung ist
is het stil, beraamt iemand --es still, plant irgendjemand --
nog een vredesdaad?einen Friedenstat?

Poem S2039
Amsterdam, 2023-12-08

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Peace: wish 
 

Killing people and

leaving them in the streets day --


after day to rot.


Mensen vermoordenMenschen ermorden
en hen dag na dag op straat --und sie dann auf der Straße --
laten verrotten.verrotten lassen.

Poem S2040
Amsterdam, 2023-12-08

Antigone (Sophocles) (-442)
Play
Terror of gangs and regimes

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Pride: arrogance 
Keyword: Power: demonstration 
Tribute to: Sophokles 
 

After destruction

there is a lot to be built --


nothing to rebuild.


Na de verwoestingNach der Zerstörung
valt er veel op te bouwen --muss man bauen, aber nicht --
niets te herbouwen.wiedererbauen.

Poem H4414
Amsterdam, 2023-12-30

How do you live? (Hayao Miyazaki) (2023)
A new era
Animation film "Kimitachi wa d? ikiru ka" ("How do you live?" / "What is your way of life?" / "The Boy and the Heron")

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Together: labour / work / office 
Tribute to: Miyazaki, Hayao 
 

Zywa The flowers stink

Calimeros nick shit shit
on top of the living mountain
boom boom bombing bass
do not wipe their ass

get behind their masks
mish mash mocking heads
the right of their pose
pooh pooh poo haha

smother smile-screw-lala
protest and opposition
in fearing much more most
and flowers on the graves

whinge and wine too bad oh yeah
of the bra-brave fools
who want to be martyrs
Come and see! Come and see!

They curse electricity and water
and threaten oh sigh sigh
boastfully destruction
that no cartoon can contain

Poem 5437
Amsterdam, 2024-03-03

Oligarchs and drug lords
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Power: murder / annihilation 
Keyword: Rossija% 
 

Poem 5446
Amsterdam, 2024-03-05

Rhetoric, Lies, Doublespeak, Doubletalk/Forked tongue
Marcus Junius Brutus (85-42 BC)

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Language: signs 
Keyword: Politics^ 
 

Zywa The Internationale

What are you actually capable of?
I have no use for you at all
You have grown old, dirty
and you have no one
to look after you, so

you can tell
I'm tired of you
Get out of here
or I'll cause you something
It is your own fault

You know the way it goes
what you are worth, that
it can't go on like this
Don't just sit there
hoping this will pass

I don't want to see you anymore
You'd better be happy
so patient I've been with you
And now it's time for tea
I'll make it myself today

Poem 2151
Amsterdam, 2019-03-13

Battle anthem (1871)
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Equality: 
Tribute to: Pottier, Eugene 
 

Zywa The flag of Peace

Under the Peace Flag
there is the most freedom
to continue the war
referring to provisions
in the Treaty of Peace

There is always a story
to tell about the past
an era to choose
in which is founded
what was lost, a Golden Age

to which the people are entitled
and in which they will arise:
everything will be fine
as long as you have the last word
and silence the dissenters

those traitors of the truth
and the ideals of the revolution
Fight for equal rights
of our oppressed brothers
Free them!

Restore the territory
the foundation of the wealth
and the power of the leaders
then they might grant you
a large statue

Poem 4481
Amsterdam, 2022-05-16

The complaint of Peace (Lucas Wiegerink) (2022)
"Querela Pacis" (1517, Desiderius Erasmus), written on the occasion of the canceled peace conference in Kamerijk (now Cambrai)
Theatre piece by Lucas Wiegerink (music) and Jibbe Willems (actor text), with lyrics by Desiderius Erasmus; performed in the Organpark by Capella Brabant on May 15th, 2022

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Peace: and war 
Tribute to: Erasmus, Desiderius 
Tribute to: Willems, Jibbe 
Composer: Wiegerink, Lucas 
 

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: PumicePieces 
Keyword: War: fight/resistance/guerrilla 
 

Our club is losing,

hear the little flags rustle --


like a cold shower.


Onze club verliest,Die Mannschaft verliert,
de vlaggetjes ritselen --die Bundesfahnen rascheln --
als koude regen.wie kalter Regen.

Poem H0295
Amsterdam, 2012-06-27

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Sadness: suffer 
 

Shoulders to shoulders,

the flower bursts open, spurts --


away in snap-weeds.


De bloem van schoudersSchultern an Schultern,
aan schouders barst open, spuit --die Blume brecht auf und spritzt --
in springzaadjes weg.weg in Springkräuter.

Poem H0930
Amsterdam, 2014-05-22

Rugby scrum
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Life: energy 
 

The Friesian horses,

stepping in black cloths with hoods --


and snorting with life.


De Friese paardenDie Friesenpferde
schrijden in zwarte mantels --schreiten in schwarzen Decken --
briesend van leven.schnaubend vor Leben.

Poem H0937
Amsterdam, 2014-05-25

Horses with cloths (Arjen Duinker) (1994)
After reading the poem "Paarden met mantels" (collection "De gevelreiniger en anderen")
Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Death: and life 
Tribute to: Duinker, Arjen 
 

The flags are blowing:

a miserable view, these --


ostentatious flags.


Er waaien vlaggen:Die Flaggen wehen:
een treurig gezicht, deze --kein schöner Anblick, diese --
verkeerde vlaggen.verkehrte Flaggen.

Poem S1319
Amsterdam, 2022-01-26

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Power: demonstration 
 

Zywa Fed with peace

Even the most beautiful girls
cannot keep our sons at home
     We only know half
     of their dreams, not the other
     half that will not come true

Oh, girls (poor girls)
will they take over there
     Without obligations
     and without resistance
     Struggling bleeds dead

They spit on their worker's hands
look forward to striking fists
     Peace is not their world
     They are no longer children
     and they laugh at our worries

On our breasts we fed them
with peace
     They have grown from it
     developing in homeliness
     but now they want something else

Poem 4483
Amsterdam, 2022-05-16

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: Peace: and war 
 

Zywa Forked tongue

Deep into the night
they felt like winners
The blood had flowed
and it was not theirs

But at dawn
the corpses lay down
with the frightened women
and crying children

in their heads
Occupied, nothing wants to
flow in their bodies
Betrayal! Betrayal!

Ghosts and rats
lick the anger
and play hide and seek
in the maze of lies

about the heroic battle
for the fatherland
and its powerful fathers
with their forked tongue

Poem 4485
Amsterdam, 2022-05-16

Collection: PumicePieces 
Keyword: War: trauma 
 

Zywa
     Collection:   PumicePieces
GroupGermanDutch5-7-5
PencilPumiceRainLoves
CompressedBirdsIflessPhoto