Waiting is living

half, putting deeds off, looking --


in front of oneself.


Wachten is maar halfWarten ist nur halb
leven, actie uitstellen --leben, Aktion aufschieben --
voor je uit kijken.vor sich hin schauen.

 Poem S2091
 Amsterdam, 2024-01-10
 Collection: Local contractions 


While they wait around

the grave, people talk softly --


about the weather.


Wachtend om het grafUm das Grab herum
praten de mensen zachtjes --reden die Leute leise --
over de hitte.über die Hitze.

 Poem H4347
 Amsterdam, 2023-12-07
 Labor Day (Louise Glück) - 1990
 Poem (collection "Ararat")
 Tribute to: Glueck, Louise 
 Collection: Stream 


Waiting, staring out

if she's finally coming --


The tea is finished.


Wachten, naar buitenWarten und hinaus
staren of ze eraan komt --starren, ob sie kommt, den Tee --
De thee is al op.ist ausgetrunken.

 Poem H4098
 Amsterdam, 2023-08-31
 The shining armour (Simon Vestdijk) - 1956
 Novel "Het glinsterend pantser", chapter 1-II. An artistic family
 Tribute to: Vestdijk, Simon 
 Collection: Inmost 


We're waiting, sadly

the angels hang there, over --


our iniquity.


We wachten, treurigWir warten, traurig
hangen de engelen daar --hängen die Engel über --
boven ons onrecht.unserem Unrecht.

 Poem S1863
 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: Stall 


I just sit and wait

in the bus shelter, nowhere --


a home in the night.


Zitten te wachtenIn der Bushalte-
in het bushokje, nergens --stelle warten, nirgendwo --
een thuis in de nacht.gibt’s ein Zuhause.

 Poem S1776
 Amsterdam, 2023-05-23
 That afternoon (Nafiss Nia) - 2023
 On the run from deportation after a rejected asylum application
Film "Die middag"

 Tribute to: Nia, Nafiss 
 Collection: Local contractions 


Resigned he stands firm,

while he keeps smiling bravely --


under his moustache.


Berustend houdt hij stand,Gelassen hält er
met een moedige glimlach --sich, mutig ist sein Lächeln --
onder zijn krulsnor.unter dem Schnurrbart.

 Poem H3636
 Amsterdam, 2023-01-01
 The twelve letters (Luigi Pirandello) - 1897
 Story "Le dodici lettere"
 Tribute to: Pirandello, Luigi 
 Collection: Actively Passive 


An automated

answer produces a queue --


Length invisible.


Een automatischAutomatische
antwoord creëert een wachtrij --Antworten machen Schlangen --
Lengte onzichtbaar.Länge unsichtbar.

 Poem S1383
 Amsterdam, 2022-04-04
 Collection: Half The Work 


I waited a year,

now we will stay together --


it must, it must, it...


Ik wachtte een jaar,Nach langem Warten
nu blijven wij bij elkaar --bleiben wir beieinander --
het moet, het moet, het...es muss, es muss, es...

 Poem S1177
 Amsterdam, 2021-05-19
 Last Year at Marienbad (Alain Resnais & Alain Robbe-Grillet) - 1961
 Film "L'Année dernière à Marienbad"
 Tribute to: Resnais, Alain 
 Tribute to: Robbe-Grillet, Alain 
 Collection: Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 60s and 70s 


It is a long wait,

I pull buttons off my shirt --


now I have to sew.


Het wachten duurt lang,Lange warten, ich
ik trek knopen van mijn hemd --reiße Hemdenknöpfe ab --
nu moet ik naaien.jetzt muss ich nähen.

 Poem S1172
 Amsterdam, 2021-05-07
 One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel García Márquez) - 1967
 Novel "Cien años de soledad"
 Tribute to: Garcia Marquez, Gabriel 
 Collection: After the festivities 


After a long wait

it's finally happening --


way and way too fast.


Ik heb lang gewacht,Nach einem langen
en eindelijk gebeurt het --Warten passiert es endlich --
veel en veel te snel.viel und viel zu schnell.

 Poem S1165
 Amsterdam, 2021-05-03
 Collection: On living on [2] 


Maybe it is time,

but I hesitate to go --


or am I there yet?


Misschien is het tijd,Vielleicht ist es Zeit,
maar ik aarzel om te gaan --ich zögere zu gehen --
of ben ik er al?ich mag schon da sein.

 Poem S0954
 Amsterdam, 2019-10-24
 Endgame (Samuel Beckett) - 1957
 Theater Rotterdam with Hans Croiset
 Tribute to: Beckett, Samuel 
 Collection: On the fly 


No letters today

the postman stands still, he's blind --


a tree in the fog.


Vandaag geen brieven,Keine Post heute,
de postbode staat stil, blind --der Postbote steht still, blind --
een boom in de mist.ein Baum im Nebel

 Poem S0894
 Vlissingen, 2019-06-06
 The postman
Fog
(Willem van Toorn)
- 1963

 Poems "De postbode" and "Mist" (collection "Kijkdoos")
 Tribute to: Van Toorn, Willem 
 Collection: Moist glow 


My hand waits, becomes

a claw, then almost a fist --


which is hardly mine.


Mijn wachtende handMeine Hand wartet,
wordt een klauw, bijna een vuist --wird zur Klaue, fast zur Faust --
nauwelijks van mij.die kaum mir gehört.

 Poem S0827
 Amsterdam, 2019-01-17
 My hand (Toon Tellegen) - 2018
 Poem "Mijn hand" (collection "Glas tussen ons")
 Tribute to: Tellegen, Toon 
 Collection: Perhaps / Some day / Occasionally / Almost 


The city reflects

my dream of love: weathered grey --


from all the waiting.


De stad weerspiegeltDie Stadt reflektiert
mijn droom van liefde: verweerd --den Liebestraum: verwittert --
van al het wachten.von all dem Warten.

 Poem S0801
 Amsterdam, 2018-10-03
 The city sneaks through foggy twilight (Andreas Burnier) - 1965
 Poem "De stad sluipt door een schemering van mist" (in the novel "Een tevreden lach")
 Tribute to: Burnier, Andreas 
 Collection: Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 60s and 70s 


Zywa Waiting

Lost in the women's section
harmless smiling clumsy
I saw, wanted you

I let you cook for me
and wait after dinner
for a next time, love

is waiting and waiting
is being alive, you were confused
you wanted me

to pamper me, to cook for me
and you had fantasies, patiently
waiting, about a night

with me, love
that will last a lifetime
an adventure of differences

that make our hearts falter
with misunderstandings, but then
they relax again

 Poem 1750
 Amsterdam, 2018-05-05
 Collection: More 


Zywa Meanwhile something else

Answer to the fromquestion
What was first
chicken or egg?
The fried egg chicken

Proudly she stands
on unyielding legs
in her broken egg

Answer to the toquestion
What will be last?
God's son
spreads his arms

he jumps from the cross
as the winner: the fried egg man!
Applause

everything will be fine
people, wait patiently
we’ve got time

two thousand years
are already over, and meanwhile
we do something else

 Poem 1704
 Amsterdam, 2018-03-18
 Stations of the cross (Kamagurka) - 2012
 Kruiswegstatiën ("Stations of the cross", 2012, Kamagurka) with "Via Crucis" (2000/2014) by Gilius van Bergeijk
 Tribute to: Kamagurka 
 Composer:  
 Collection: org anp ark 


Flowers may remain

closed sometimes, for many years --


of awaiting love.


Soms blijven bloemenBlumen sind manchmal
vele jaren gesloten --viele Jahre geschlossen --
wachtend op liefde.wartend auf Liebe.

 Poem H1995
 Zandvoort aan Zee, 2018-01-29
 The sensitive postman (Denis Thériault) - 2005
 Novel "Le facteur émotif"
 Tribute to: Theriault, Denis 
 Collection: Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 0s 


Zywa Slow circles

It's been all day like this
The people waiting behind
the rain-line take shelter

in bays on the sidewalk
along the Titanic Bar, no hope
of entrance nor of the end

of the long tears of rain
over the rough wall, the window
and the bars in front of the gaiety

inside, where I walk hand in hand
in slow circles around the band
over the black and the white

of tiles splashed with mud
Also contraclockwise and once
through the middle, non stop

looking at the singer, looking
if she looks back, without hope
that she will. Waiting

 Poem 1282
 Amsterdam, 2017-04-21
 Damnation (Béla Tarr) - 1988
 Film "Kárhozat"
 Tribute to: Tarr, Bela 
 Collection: Local contractions 


Zywa The waiting days

Unbearably itching
are the days of waiting
for the wound to heal

Deliriously thin I dream
of precisely that one person
to be happy with

My reserves are running out
When will the wind turn?
It isn't bringing any rain

Will my patience come to an end
or will someone come instead
to stand still with me?

Is the waiting unlearning me
much too late the waiting
and shall I get extra time

to live?

 Poem 1207
 Amsterdam, 2017-03-13
 Collection: Webgarden 


Zywa Spoon alone

A few more days
too many nights

again I'm not coming around
to anything, trying not to

think of him
hidden in bed

a lonely spoon
seeking his smell in the pillow

the pillow the bell of my heart
the birds somewhere asleep in the dark

a few more days

 Poem 1141
 Amsterdam, 2017-03-06
 Collection: Heart's Delight 


Zywa Waiting in the wind

My neighbour is a thinker
a statue behind the house
in the summer and the winter

garden concealed in the spruce
His legs graft him:
bare, upright branches

invisibly sustained
by roots in the ground

At times a wind that doesn't want to wait
is stroking through his feathers
but hé is not rushed

when I throw fish
Thoughtful he knows
opportunities are taken or missed

and he knows the difference
the right moment
or not

 Poem 1109
 Amsterdam, 2017-03-03
 After a photo by Jan Keijzer
 Dedicated to: Jan K 
 Collection: WoofWoof 


Zywa Meanwhile

It's been discussed, explained
and considered to a decision
a job, nothing more

to do, just wait
make ends meet
with some chores

a nice story in due time
be open to good luck
accept with a friendly smile

and proudly what casually is
given with love, and forget
what you are waiting for

 Poem 1113
 Amsterdam, 2017-03-03
 Collection: WoofWoof 


Zywa Later Love

After the war, I had the chance to make
a trip with colleagues to Denmark
All summer evening we danced with Danes

and I dreamed of my love

freeing him with thunderous force
from a cell in the police office
I quickly ran away with him

to our wedding and our own little house

in Helsingör, so nicely have I dreamed
of our family that only half of it
should have to come true

to make anyone else envious of me

Now, years later, we still live
with our parents, unmarried, separately
On Sunday we go for a walk, to keep on hoping

this year it will be our turn

to look at the houses in the new neighbourhoods
but my dreams are long gone
and I feel like being twenty-three years

engaged to an empty promised romance

 Poem 1251
 Amsterdam, 2016-04-12
 Letters - 1946
 Dedicated to: Riet O 
 Collection: Heart's Delight 


I already was

for us, I still wait for you --


dead and buried there.


In het land dat jijIch war schon im Land
voor ons droomt, wacht ik op jou --uns träumst, warte ich auf dich --
dood en begraven.tot und begraben.

 Poem S0332
 Amsterdam, 2015-09-20
 Macabre race (Hilde Domin) - 1953
 Poem "Makabrer Wettlauf"
 Tribute to: Domin, Hilde 
 Collection: VacantVoid 


If I leave I'm gone,

if I wait the wait will take --


longer and longer.


Als ik ga ben ikWenn ich geh, bin ich
weg, als ik wacht dan duurt het --weg, sonst dauert das Warten --
wachten steeds langer.immer noch länger.

 Poem S0260
 Amsterdam, 2014-12-03
 Mexican loneliness (Jack Kerouac) - 1960
 Poem (collection "Pomes All sizes")
 Tribute to: Kerouac, Jack 
 Collection: MistI 


I am monitored

in a small room with a view --


of life that goes on.


Mijn hart wordt bewaaktIch werd' überwacht
op een kamer met uitzicht:in einem Raum mit Ausblick --
het leven gaat door.auf Weiterleben.

 Poem H0448
 Amsterdam, 2013-05-06
 Hospital (heart monitoring department)
 Collection: Life line 


A downpour: people

run to the ice-cream parlour --


to lick waiting time.


Een bui: de mensenEs gießt: die Menschen
vluchten de ijssalon in --fliehen in die Eisdiele --
en likken wachttijd.lecken Wartezeit.

 Poem H0312
 Amsterdam, 2012-07-09
 Collection: Local contractions 

Zywa
Keywords
Waiting
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