Still, the colonists

of the past steal, decently --


from the safe bank vaults.


De kolonistenDie Kolonisten
van vroeger stelen netjes --stehlen anständig weiter --
uit de bankkluizen.aus Banktresoren.

 Poem S1903
 Amsterdam, 2023-09-07
 A Change of tongue (Antjie Krog) - 2003
 Tale, part 1 § 2
 Tribute to: Krog, Antjie 
 Collection: Specialities 


The white prison guards

lock up the black souls in white --


imaginations.


De witte cipiersDie weiße Wärter
sluiten zwarte zielen op --sperren schwarze Seelen ein --
in witte beelden.in weißen Bildern.

 Poem S1872
 Amsterdam, 2023-08-19
 Black Bodies, White Gazes: the Continuing Significance of Race (George Yancy) - 2008
 Book
 Tribute to: Yancy, George 
 Collection: May the Might 


As new colonists

we steal other people's works:


we poets of fame.


Als kolonistenAls Siedler klauen
pikken we andermans werk:wir die Schriften anderer:
wij dichters van faam.wir Berühmtheiten.

 Poem S1865
 Amsterdam, 2023-08-16
 the making visible of all kinds of raids (Antjie Krog) - 2022
 Poem "die sigbaarmaking van allerlei strooptogte"(collection "Plunder" ["Pillage"])
 Tribute to: Krog, Antjie 
 Collection: Look at me 


Unsolicited

they come to help, so modest --


is their haughtiness!


Ongevraagd komenUngefragt kommen
ze helpen, zo bescheiden --sie zu Hilfe, bescheiden --
is hun eigendunk!ihre Eitelkeit!?

 Poem S1654
 Amsterdam, 2023-02-04
 Collection: Migration 


My metamorphic

body dies of the glutton --


of colonisers.


Mijn wissellichaamMein Wechselkörper
sterft aan kanker, de veelvraat --stirbt an Krebs, dieser Vielfraß --
van kolonisten.von Kolonisten.

 Poem S1488
 Amsterdam, 2022-07-30
 Collection: Metamorphic body 


Zywa Amsterdam, siltland by the Big Lake

The level is rising around
the islands of silt
in the swamp, the fishermen
see their world widening
Old streambeds are also filling up
The wetlands become accessible
by rivers from the mainland

It is a sucking void
a gate to the sea, a chance
for the peat farmers and the forest people
to start trading, to build
dikes, quays, a city
with a dam
in the middle

People are flowing over
from the prosperous villages
to the impoldered land
with the new port --
not an old core that hungrily
conquers the surrounding lands
but their colony

 Poem 3820
 Amsterdam, 2021-05-18
 AD 1100, the beginning of Amsterdam
Almere = Big Lake

 Collection: New Ago 


Zywa The Colonelists

The Lieutenant Colonel is a hero
With losses, it is difficult
to live, they shout too many

questions, about contempt
the moaning contempt
of people and the constitution

The winners have lost
Because they are withdrawing
from the plain where there is no food

and the Colonelists are right
they are not bad losers --
in the end they won

But victims do not forget
Their expulsion is being
cut out, cut off, cut down

alive, trapped
in delusions
of blind people believing

they have been chosen
by the One and Only
who cannot lose

 Poem 3356
 Amsterdam, 2021-01-12
 With God on our side (Bob Dylan) - 1964
 Song
 Tribute to: Dylan, Bob 
 Collection: Great Flow 


Zywa What they didn't say

High-level meeting
The king was bound to it
The reputation of the country

is attacked, and defended
with the greatest philosopher:
are the unbelievers inferior?

Should we convert them
with cannons and forced labour
and be rewarded for that?

Or are we robbing and killing
civilized people to damnation
of ourselves, an indelible debt?

The opinions remain
divided, the king is powerless
He cannot make a decision

The sages split up
Praying, they purify their souls
from what they didn't say

 Poem 2403
 Amsterdam, 2019-09-09
 Valladolid in 1550
Meeting under the leadership of Charles V, about the atrocities against the Aztecs in Mexico
The settlers defend themselves with arguments from Aristotle (384-322), the moralists put his definition of civilization against that
In 1511 Antonio de Montesinos made the same accusations against the Spanish settlers in Hispaniola

 Collection: Half The Work 


Zywa The guestbook

Outside, the street is full of roles
barbed wire, you don't see them
behind the blinded windows
of formal peace

Inside everyone walks naked
in their clothes around the tower
of stacked seats on which
the Commissioner is sitting

He wiggles, the mouth full
of national interests and mutual care
The walls are decorated with names
Out of politeness I note mine

in the guestbook, sixteen pages
after a woman who has become famous
I leave my borrowed laurels
I don't want to rest on them

 Poem 1734
 Amsterdam, 2018-04-27
 Headquarters of the British police in the Princess Mary Street, Jerusalem, May 19th, 1948
Poem "The Tower" (Charles Simic, 1994, collection "A Wedding in Hell")

 Collection: Changing Times 


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")

 Tribute to: Simone, Nina 
 Collection: PumicePieces 

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