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Zywa Jun 27
A man falls over,

luckily I can't see more --


There are bystanders.
Novel "Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge" ("The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge", 1910, Rainer Maria Rilke), chapter #1

Collection "Held/True"
Jun 26 · 69
Only everything
Zywa Jun 26
If I only have love
when I meet you
I have everything

to exist
to say
and be safe

If I am love
I can bear death
and the pain, my tears

flow around
the world and together
we can be happy
"Quand on n'a que l'amour" ("When you only have love", 1956, Jacques Brel)

Collection "The Big Secret"
Zywa Jun 26
The little plant bends

with the sun and the wind, blooms --


as much as it can.
Collection "The Big Secret"
Zywa Jun 26
Kissing I slide down

over his tongue into his --


soul, and feel his fear.
Poem "Hij mag mee" ("He can come", 2012, Ellen Deckwitz), collection "Hoi feest" ("Hi party")

Collection "Death on Cast"
Jun 25 · 79
[ Sarcophagus earth ]
Zywa Jun 25
Sarcophagus earth

eats the flesh, the bones remain --


and airy shadows.
Poem "Verder leven" ("Live on", 2021, Marjoleine de Vos), collection "*** verschillig" ("How indistant")
Odysseus meets his mother in the underworld (plus Teiresias and Agamemnon)

Sarcophagus = flesh-eating

Collection "Moist glow"
Zywa Jun 25
What are the answers

to the difficult questions --


I can ask myself?
Column "Alles of niets, met pistool op de borst" ("All or nothing, with a gun to my head", 2025, Stephen Sanders), in the NRC of June 23rd, 2025

Collection "Unseen"
Zywa Jun 25
Grandpa looks at me,

I feel that he loves me, but --


who is he really?
For Madelief dK, Lotte W and Paul J, with a photo of him in the Organpark (November 16th, 2014, Amsterdam)

Collection "The Big Secret"
Jun 24 · 102
White soul
Zywa Jun 24
My heart knows no stopping
it pulls through

within the trinity of time
from the green beginning
of my fate, getting myself
on my feet

with passion and jumping back
into the stream of experiences
swimming a stroke every now
and then, drifting along a little

and letting a lot pass by
beauty and cruelty
waves of feelings and
caresses of life

under the foam of my consciousness
the white soul of time
- The red passion and will, nature's dynamic lust for life (rajas)
- The green body, nature's structure (tamas)
- The white soul, the balanced whole of nature (sattva)

Collection "web tissue"
Jun 24 · 124
[ In all its colours ]
Zywa Jun 24
In all its colours,

life keeps unfolding in us --


deep within our soul.
Painting "Baby" (in the cradle, 1917, Gustav Klimt)

At the birth of Harper Elizabeth Engwerda on September 14th, 2021

Collection "web tissue"
Zywa Jun 24
It's too bad, that we

can't stop it, but later we --


shall commemorate.
Poem "de juiste woorden" ("the right words", 2025, Babs Gons), in the NRC of June 21st, 2025, about the destruction of the Palestinian territories

Collection "Stall"
Jun 24 · 86
[ We argue about ]
Zywa Jun 24
We argue about

the right words for "it", which must --


stop without delay.
Poem "de juiste woorden" ("the right words", 2025, Babs Gons), in the NRC of June 21st, 2025, about the destruction of the Palestinian territories

Collection "Stall"
Jun 23 · 110
[ There is no service ]
Zywa Jun 23
There is no service,

the terrace serves us itself --


As a meeting place.
For Madelief dK and Lotte W, with a photo of the former farm Het Melkhuis in the Vondelpark, rebuilt in 1938 into The Great Milk House (Het Groot Melkhuis), with a buffet for the guests (May 15th, 2022, Amsterdam)

Collection "Local interest"
Zywa Jun 23
Above the trees flows

the water to the city --


In the blazing sun.
For Lotte W, with a photo of the roman Aqüeducte de les Ferreres (October 9th, 1984, between Tarragona and Tarraco)

Collection "Local interest"
Jun 23 · 79
Trinity
Zywa Jun 23
Another day
of manoeuvring
in the holy triangle
of languor, passion and harmony

In my blood, lethargy is floating
lazily along banks and jetties
It lies down
in the signal boxes

of my muscles and mood
as the prey of the fighters
who ignore the night
to make a party

of my life, now or never
to participate, out of desire
for happiness
that is short-lived
- Being slow, sometimes careless, and maintain what is there (tamas)
- Being active, from passion, and change something (rajas)
- Being in harmony, which gives joy (sattva)

Collection "web tissue"
Zywa Jun 23
Life is smelling, it's

tasting, seeing, and being --


able to respond.
Collection "web tissue"
Jun 22 · 121
[ A car stops, because ]
Zywa Jun 22
A car stops, because

I'm standing at the window --


and yes, I can come.
Novel "**** nu mijn stem" ("Hear my voice now", 2017, Franca Treur), chapter 12

Collection "On the fly"
Jun 22 · 181
[ Goodness is steady ]
Zywa Jun 22
Goodness is steady,

beauty is fleeting, it lasts --


the blink of an eye.
Poem fragment E.58 ( 650 BC, Sappho) - "Lyra Graeca" (1922-1927, John Maxwell Edmonds)

Collection "On the fly"
Jun 22 · 72
Anatomical Theatre
Zywa Jun 22
I undress voluntarily
The assistants lead me
to the middle

into the half-dark circle
of curious students who
search for the connection

between my bare legs
and the light swell
of my white shirt

I lower my eyes
and follow the instructions
of the professor

as if I see myself
in a film, turning around
in the circle

of light
of attention
of thin voices
Collection "Eyes lips chest and belly"
Zywa Jun 22
To be healed I want

to be in the hospital --


to be an object.
Collection "Eyes lips chest and belly"
Jun 21 · 160
[ I don't understand ]
Zywa Jun 21
I don't understand

what I feel, maybe I am --


amazed at your love.
Song "Maybe I'm amazed" (1970, Paul McCartney), album "McCartney"

Collection "Loves Tricks Gains Pains in the 60s and 70s"
Jun 21 · 84
Foreplay, Endplay
Zywa Jun 21
Forty, I still have hope
The glands in my ******* engorge
the desire, with big eyes

I bounce between decency
and groping, tripping
over crooked paving stones

spying for an opportunity
Where is my husband now
that I need him

to go for me?
Doesn't he smell my need?
I pull up a leg

my wrap skirt falls open
Half-hidden my butterfly
the promise of my powder puff
Farfalla = butterfly, *****

Her powder puff: Il suo piumino da cipria, from the story "La signora Speranza" - I ("Mrs. Hope", 1903, Luigi Pirandello)

Collection "Eyes lips chest and belly"
Jun 21 · 115
[ Hips are everything ]
Zywa Jun 21
Hips are everything

between them, the flowering --


of the human soul.
Book "The House on Mango Street", chapter "Hips", 1984, Sandra Cisneros

Collection "Eyes lips chest and belly"
Zywa Jun 20
In nice clothes I wait

and await, it takes so long --


before you touch me.
Collection "Local tardiness"
Jun 20 · 99
[ He loves the organ ]
Zywa Jun 20
He loves the *****,

and sometimes, I go with him --


to sit there thinking.
Collection "org anp ARK" #117
Jun 20 · 90
Dreamed love
Zywa Jun 20
People want rocks
build their lives on them
Houses that last

People want to hammer
their existence in memories
that last

People don't want to be nameless
but the name Love
will do

People want to believe
in the people
they need

People want to believe
in the power
of their dreams
Collection "The Big Secret"
Jun 20 · 85
[ Are we wonderful ]
Zywa Jun 20
Are we wonderful,

are we building great houses --


of love together?
Collection "The Big Secret"
Zywa Jun 19
Inside the big clock,

time is moving, pushed forward --


by two road sweepers.
"Sweepers' clock" (2009, Maarten Baas) in the Erasmus Clinical Centre in Rotterdam

Collection "Local tardiness"
Jun 19 · 95
[ In the many books ]
Zywa Jun 19
In the many books

that I like, I never read --


anything that's new.
Collection "Local tardiness"
Jun 19 · 122
Everything safe
Zywa Jun 19
Touching with caution
warmth upon warmth
kissing hairs

nails very softly
in circles and strokes
across your back

Everything safe, breathe
Falling asleep dreamlessly
and still know it

Whatever the day was like
whatever tomorrow's
program is: caressing hand

happy back
buttocks kiss
the warm belly
For Maria Godschalk

Collection "The Big Secret"
Jun 19 · 130
[ In Spain I is: el ]
Zywa Jun 19
In Spain 'I' is: el

corazón, and 'happiness':


dos corazones.
For Linda B, on the occasion of her 60th birthday

Collection "The Big Secret"
Zywa Jun 18
Antivertising art:

an advertising column --


that is a mirror.
For Lotte W, with a photo of an advertising column on the corner of Rijnsburgstraat and Sloterkade in Amsterdam, covered by Mischa Rakier with mirroring HPL (High Pressured Laminate), October 1st, 2011

Collection "Local tardiness"
Jun 18 · 68
[ Do you understand ]
Zywa Jun 18
Do you understand,

or should I turn the drawing --


into a ******?
Collection "Local tardiness"
Zywa Jun 18
It is getting dark, we walk
away from the couples, who, just like us
have not seen the sun go down

The picnic baskets are empty
You pack up the peels and I
pretend to look past you and you

pretend I don't attract
your attention, knowing that
our skin is glowing for more
You are smoothly sculpted
like a Greek god

I brush through your hair
The sea moans under the rocks
Our room is still far away

but I can imagine you
hanging out nicely, kneadable
in the grip of my hand
September 24th, 1989

Collection "Take a picture, now"
Zywa Jun 18
I see her peeping,

she looks back to me and then --


we are both ashamed.
Collection "Take a picture, now"
Jun 17 · 104
[ I do feel peaceful ]
Zywa Jun 17
I do feel peaceful,

however, in my longing --


I can't sleep at all.
Composition "Schlaflos (Notenbrief für Mathilde Wesendonck)" for piano ("Sleepless (Letter in notes for Mathilde Wesendonck)", 1856, Richard Wagner), performed by Geerten van de Wetering on ***** in the Organpark on April 14th, 2024

Collection "org ANP ark" #186
Zywa Jun 17
Loosened from the ropes,

the bells are chiming around --


in their ecstasy.
Composition "Timber" (2009, Michael Gordon) for six wooden semantra (woodblocks), partly performed in the Organpark on March 17th, 2024 by Joao Brito, Bruno Martins, Michal Kram, Ivo Stoyanov, Ferry Mommers, Ivan Boaro

Collection "org ANP ark" #179
Jun 17 · 64
A new past
Zywa Jun 17
When waking up
from my sleeplessness
I am tired

of the task
to create
a new past
anyhow

grafted onto
who I have been
with a family
and a mother
who knew me

to create
a second life
under a sun
bright enough

to warm me
and bleach
the shadows
Film "Trois couleurs: Bleu" - Liberté ("Three Colours: Blue" - Liberty, 1993, Krzysztof Kieslowski)

Collection "New Ago"
Zywa Jun 17
Destruction, and then

the dust settles, the wind blows --


Of a new era?
Decay, demolition and war

Collection "New Ago"
Zywa Jun 16
He sniffs, grazing
he comes closer
Only the birds watch

Warm breath explores
the skin of my desire
I smell what it does to him

Carefully he licks me
I let go of the world
My body trembles

in my consciousness, nameless
in his eyes, this is real
Not romance
Collection "Without reserve"
Zywa Jun 16
The pleasant strangeness

of your body, that body --


going its own way.
Collection "Without reserve"
Jun 16 · 78
[ More bicycles here ]
Zywa Jun 16
More bicycles here

than houses, that makes sense, but --


where are the people?
For Lotte W and Madelief dK, with a photo of parked bicycles (August 12th, 2022, Amsterdam) - Singel, near the Raadhuisstraat

Collection "Local tardiness"
Zywa Jun 16
Empty waiting rooms

in the hospital, no one --


will become ill here.
Collection "Local tardiness"
Zywa Jun 15
Ouch, I fall down the

mountain, getting up hurts, I --


feel like a winner.
Autobiographical book "Heden ik" ("Today for me", 1993, Renate Dorrestein), about ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome), chapter 'First act' - Hodie mihi, cras tibi (today for me, tomorrow for thee)

Collection "Old sore"
Jun 15 · 159
[ On the train, I rest ]
Zywa Jun 15
On the train, I rest.

The longer the journey, the --


more rested I am.
Autobiographical book "Heden ik" ("Today for me", 1993, Renate Dorrestein), about ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome), chapter 'Third act' - Hodie mihi, cras tibi (today for me, tomorrow for thee)

Collection "Old sore"
Jun 15 · 107
This is real [1]
Zywa Jun 15
Everything is different, I am
really alive now, my friend laughs
Really, I dream

that the earth stands still
and the roses keep blooming
My nights are full

of expectation
and I will be saved
whenever it storms

No more accounts
of the benefits
of the doubts

about the future
of the world
and myself
Collection "Without reserve"
Jun 15 · 107
[ Romance has no ]
Zywa Jun 15
Romance has no

boundaries: everyone and --


everything is love!
For Lotte W and Madelief dK, with a photo of a birdhouse with the name 'Liebesnest' ('Love nest'), at Gasthaus Bürgisweier Bad (June 5th, 2011, Madiswil)

Collection "Without reserve"
Jun 14 · 124
Doe
Zywa Jun 14
Doe
As if I mocked him
or Love, so wounded
he dreams me

on swift legs
a doe-woman
without bow and arrow

graceful, and shy
slender, and modest
wise, but a woman

subject
to his desire
to possess

my desires
sharp in view
as I run, longingly

looking at him, panting
entangled in his hands
until he is satisfied
Ballet "Sylvia ou la nymphe de Diane" ("Sylvia or the nymph of Diane", 1876, music Léo Delibes, libretto Jules Barbier and Jacques de Reinach, after the 1573 poem "Aminta" by Torquato Tassos)

Collection "Froend"
Jun 14 · 151
[ I like to be soft ]
Zywa Jun 14
I like to be soft,

but hard enough to resist --


the worldly hardness.
Collection "Froend"
Zywa Jun 14
The sun wakes me right

in my face: impossible!


Is the earth tilted?
Collection "Local inconveniences"
Jun 14 · 105
[ The movie actress ]
Zywa Jun 14
The movie actress

sits on horsehair, you see it --


because she feels it.
Film "The Phoenician Scheme" (2025, Wes Anderson) - Liesl sits on a horsehair mattress

Collection "Local inconveniences"
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