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Aug 2023 · 305
[ The war in those days ]
Zywa Aug 2023
The war in those days

was manageable with us --


We were still young then.
"Het tankstation op de route" - 1 ("The filling station on the route" - 1, 2013, Jan Baeke)

Collection "Stall"
Zywa Aug 2023
Please come with your Skin

to my Body, the Temple --


of the Sacred Touch.
Poem "Huid" ("Skin", 2023, Johanna Pas)

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 20s and 30s"
Aug 2023 · 462
[ I get up and feel ]
Zywa Aug 2023
I get up and feel

that weather again, the sun --


on those Saturdays!
Poem "Morning Roundup" (1971, Gilbert Sorrentino)

Collection "Inwardings"
Aug 2023 · 543
[ The underworld is ]
Zywa Aug 2023
The underworld is

close at hand: ****, poo and junk --


slimy and rotting.
Poem "Besök i närmaste undre värld" ("Visit to the nearest underworld", 1982, Lars Gustafsson)

Collection "Specialities"
Aug 2023 · 320
[ Enthralling people ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Enthralling people

are misunderstood, they are --


too enigmatic.
Poem "Flickan i snabbköpet" ("The girl in the supermarket", 2002, Lars Gustafsson)

Collection "Specialities"
Aug 2023 · 457
[ Not our statements are ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Not our statements are

personal, but everything --


that happens to us.
Poem "Det vi kallar 'jag' " ("What we call 'I' ", 1982, Lars Gustafsson)

Collection "Specialities"
Aug 2023 · 412
[ From the beginning ]
Zywa Aug 2023
From the beginning

they seek us, running, sniffing:


the poor human souls.
Poem "Hundarna" ("The dogs", 1980, Lars Gustafsson)

Collection "Specialities"
Aug 2023 · 615
[ The actor knows what ]
Zywa Aug 2023
The actor knows what

it's all about: pretending --


you're really human.
Alan Arkin (New York City 1934-2023) wrote in his memoir "Out of my mind" (2018): "When things get tense, when I start taking my work a bit too seriously, I remind myself that I'm only pretending to be a human being."

Collection: "Wean Di"
Aug 2023 · 427
[ A living statue ]
Zywa Aug 2023
A living statue

bends over, taps my shoulder:


it wants a picture.
Colum "Bewegende standbeelden" ("Moving statues", 2023, Marcel van Roosmalen), in NRC, July 3rd, 2023

Collection "Specialities"
Aug 2023 · 577
[ On expectations ]
Zywa Aug 2023
On expectations,

the bar is set so high that --


I pass under it.
Column "Gewoon uitzitten" ("Just sit it out", 2023, Ellen Deckwitz)

Collection "Death on Cast"
Aug 2023 · 613
[ One day you will learn ]
Zywa Aug 2023
One day you will learn

everything you pursued was --


never possible.
Poem "For Sheridan" (1977, Robert Lowell)

Collection "Thinkles Lusionless"
Aug 2023 · 1.0k
[ We're barbarians ]
Zywa Aug 2023
We're barbarians:

people who destroy what they --


do not understand.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "OPEN HARD DRIVE"

Collection "May the Might"
Aug 2023 · 371
[ Sometimes civilised ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Sometimes civilised,

refined and choosy, sometimes --


a barbarian.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "OPEN HARD DRIVE"

Collection "May the Might"
Aug 2023 · 608
[ The magic sword can't ]
Zywa Aug 2023
The magic sword can't

be pulled free by focusing --


on the mossy stone.
Excalibur

Novel "Oranges are not the only fruit" (1985, Jeanette Winterson)

Collection
Aug 2023 · 248
[ I keep staring at ]
Zywa Aug 2023
I keep staring at

the many Maybe Islands --


Will I live somewhere?
Novel "The Stone Gods" (2007, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "PLANET BLUE"

Collection "Actively Passive"
Aug 2023 · 353
[ You must come with me ]
Zywa Aug 2023
You must come with me,

I don't want to beat my way --


through the rain alone.
Novel "Oranges are not the only fruit" (1985, Jeanette Winterson)

Collection "No wonder"
Aug 2023 · 773
[ The minister has ]
Zywa Aug 2023
The minister has

a large first-aid kit with him --


He knows the devil.
Novel "Oranges are not the only fruit" (1985, Jeanette Winterson)

Collection "No wonder"
Aug 2023 · 441
[ The past is a rope ]
Zywa Aug 2023
The past is a rope,

a tangled ball of knots, play --


with it, like a cat.
Novel "Oranges are not the only fruit" (1985, Jeanette Winterson)

Collection "No wonder"
Aug 2023 · 295
[ Such oppressive love ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Such oppressive love,

after years of marriage --


of growing apart.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "NEW DOCUMENT"

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 0s and 10s"
Aug 2023 · 253
[ Body and mind are ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Body and mind are

capable of compromise --


but the heart is not.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "NEW DOCUMENT"

Collection 'Known"
Aug 2023 · 246
[ I prefer open ]
Zywa Aug 2023
I prefer open

structures, not old age, closing --


up more and more things.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "NEW DOCUMENT"

Collection 'Stream"
Aug 2023 · 520
[ People read stories ]
Zywa Aug 2023
People read stories,

the travel maps of the world --


travel maps of lives.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "NEW DOCUMENT"

Collection "WriteWiser signage"
Aug 2023 · 1.3k
[ A kiss, naked I ]
Zywa Aug 2023
A kiss, naked I

stand before you, I'm not me --


I am your lover.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "SEARCH"

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 0s and 10s"
Aug 2023 · 601
[ Strangers are safer ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Strangers are safer,

to them I can openly --


tell all my worries.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "NEW DOCUMENT"

Collection "Unseen"
Aug 2023 · 210
[ Will life be like that ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Will life be like that:

a cream cake with trick candles --


filled with dynamite?
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "NEW DOCUMENT"

Collection "After the festivities"
Zywa Aug 2023
False starts are not bad,

but awfully terrible --


is a false ending.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "VIEW"

Collection "Over"
Aug 2023 · 443
[ She explains the world ]
Zywa Aug 2023
She explains the world

to me, it is a stinking --


pile of waste and scrap.
'Cosmic dustbin'

Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "EMPTY TRASH"

Collection "No wonder"
Aug 2023 · 500
[ The heart and dagger ]
Zywa Aug 2023
The heart and dagger

on the dark jar lure me, ask --


me to pick it up.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "EMPTY TRASH"

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 0s and 10s"
Aug 2023 · 470
[ I've been here before ]
Zywa Aug 2023
I've been here before,

in this bed, and in this love --


room without a view.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "HELP"

Collection "Within the walls"
Aug 2023 · 389
[ In the scrap workshop ]
Zywa Aug 2023
In the scrap workshop

I build monster vehicles --


Modern Frankensteins.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "EMPTY TRASH"

Collection "Stall"
Aug 2023 · 185
[ We look like marble ]
Zywa Aug 2023
We look like marble

lovers on a tomb, being --


married for so long.
"The Queen of the Tambourine" (1991, Jane Gardam), § December 25th (1989)

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 80s and 90s"
Aug 2023 · 614
[ I ring the door with ]
Zywa Aug 2023
I ring the door with

my handbell and I'm welcome --


because it's mý bell.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "EMPTY TRASH"

Collection "Truder"
Aug 2023 · 983
[ Can love heal my heart ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Can love heal my heart,

wanting to be here with you --


and longing for her?
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "HELP"

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 0s and 10s"
Aug 2023 · 1.2k
[ On the high mountain ]
Zywa Aug 2023
On the high mountain,

there is no time, the watches --


tick on uselessly.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "SPECIAL"

Collection "Stream"
Aug 2023 · 516
[ Together we pick ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Together we pick

handfuls, there's gold everywhere --


the buttercup gold.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "EMPTY TRASH"

Collection "No wonder"
Aug 2023 · 702
[ Happiness: the joy ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Happiness: the joy

of the quiet awareness --


of your existence.
Autobiographical notes "Les rêveries du promeneur solitaire" ("Reveries of the Solitary Walker", 1776, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, published posthumously in 1778), chapter "Cinquième promenade" ("Fifth walk")

Collection "Inmost [1]"
Aug 2023 · 487
[ The Promised Land does ]
Zywa Aug 2023
The Promised Land does

exist, it is on the map --


of my beating heart.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "SHOW BALLOONS"

Collection "No wonder"
Aug 2023 · 671
[ Darling, I don't want ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Darling, I don't want

to conquer you, but to be --


absorbed in your fire.
Novel "The PowerBook" (2000, Jeanette Winterson), chapter "HELP"

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 0s and 10s"
Aug 2023 · 437
[ Forever new books ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Forever new books

by new writers, for a dream --


they are immortal.
"The Queen of the Tambourine" (1991, Jane Gardam), § March 10th (1990)

Collection "A profession"
Aug 2023 · 845
[ You left us behind ]
Zywa Aug 2023
You left us behind,

there is distance now, increased --


by a few letters.
"The Queen of the Tambourine" (1991, Jane Gardam), § December 25th (1989)

Collection "Passage Passion"
Aug 2023 · 576
[ The rich, exhausted ]
Zywa Aug 2023
The rich, exhausted

from all the deprivations --


of their agenda.
"The Queen of the Tambourine" (1991, Jane Gardam), § late January and March 10th (1990)

Collection "Rasping ants"
Zywa Aug 2023
They smell sweet and warm

like fresh bread in the oven:


the newborn babies.
"The Queen of the Tambourine" (1991, Jane Gardam), § March 10th (1990)

Collection "Skin-contact"
Aug 2023 · 141
[ I just kept going ]
Zywa Aug 2023
I just kept going,

until I fell, exhausted --


lovely exhausted!
"The Queen of the Tambourine" (1991, Jane Gardam), § March 10th (1990)

Collection "Rasping ants"
Aug 2023 · 435
[ Mama keeps chasing ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Mama keeps chasing

me, I give me the advice --


she would have given.
Poem "Moeder" ("Mother", 2022, Ester Naomi Perquin) --- Collection "On the fly"
Aug 2023 · 394
[ Every time I think ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Every time I think

what my mother would have said --


Yet, do I know her?
Poem "Moeder" ("Mother", 2022, Ester Naomi Perquin)

Collection "On the fly"
Aug 2023 · 936
[ A stranger falls, and ]
Zywa Aug 2023
A stranger falls, and

as he falls he is breaking --


in into my life.
Poem "Weet nog wel" ("I remember", 2022, Ester Naomi Perquin)

Collection "Truder"
Aug 2023 · 200
[ Talking isn't easy ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Talking isn't easy,

so each of us is often --


in our own bell-jar.
Children's book "Haaientanden" ("Shark's teeth", 2019, Anna Woltz), chapter "75.4 kilometers"

Collection "Shelter"
Aug 2023 · 111
[ A poem: tail tip ]
Zywa Aug 2023
A poem: tail tip

of a cat that's already --


around the corner.
Poem "Verzamelde definities van poëzie" ("Collected definitions of poetry", 2022, Ester Naomi Perquin)

Collection "Glimpsed"
Zywa Aug 2023
Where is the truth? It's

so agile, never somewhere --


somewhere in between.
Poem "Opluchting" ("Relief", 2022, Ester Naomi Perquin)

ollection "Glimpsed"
Aug 2023 · 563
[ Educational ]
Zywa Aug 2023
Educational

books are given to children --


who are our teachers.
"The Queen of the Tambourine" (1991, Jane Gardam), § March 10th (1990)

Collection "On the fly"
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