Happy 77-th birthday!

That first time I noticed you

I walked through that cafe

and you attracted my eye

sitting at the bar between 

two adoring male friends

while you did not notice 

me noticing you totally.

💓

October 1985 ⓒ

The second time I noticed you

it was at the bar of that same cafe

sitting diagonally opposite each other

talking to and via mutual friends talking  

looking at each other, fate arranging lives.

💘

November 1985 ⓒ

The third time we faced each other

was on christmas eve in a disco

but instead of dancing we just

talked and enjoyed every bit

information we exchanged

and would meet on NYE.

💗

December 1985 ⓒ

New Year's Eve we danced all night

straight on through breakfast time

just before parting an exchange

of numbers and a cheeky kiss

a phone call later and a date

that extended the 24 hours

until it lasted our lifetime.

💞

January 1986 ⓒ

From 37 in 1985 to 77 in 2025, a never ending....

To be published on the 25-th of July 2025.

💖

For and to my wife Ellen, Elly, of course, just for her. With all my love. Happy birthday!

May 25-th 2025 ⓒ.

Oye Moses, what Israel has become....

Ex. 32:7-10.

A lamentation.

There are days, these days, 

that I wish you had chosen

differently, wisely, Moshe *

but how could you have 

known that the twelve 

would wither  to one

name out of twelve

and end up killing

guiltless children

remnants of the

eleven named

now goyim or

 

 Palestinians

in Gaza and

West Bank

Benjamin

's wiping

out all

kids 

to

0

.

ⓒ

* Moses, Musa

 

 

Note.

All of the atrocities now executed by the IDF in Gaza and West Bank 

are still no excuse for the atrocities done by Hamas on October 7 '23.

 

Olive branches burning, a lament

 

It takes over thirty hours !

to speak out all the names

of all the children in Gaza

that have been murdered 

by rockets, bullets, bombs,

denial of medical care and 

by the ultimate, starvation.

It takes another five days * 

to speak out all the names

of all the civilians in Gaza

that have been murdered

by an 'army' that is called

the Israeli Defense Force

pretending to be humane.

What defense is there to

shoot at guiltless people

who come and collect a

bag of flour, what reason

is there to bomb a school

a hospital a church a tent.

And yet we have not even

mentioned what goes on in

the West Bank. The theft of

land, the theft of lives or of 

the second-class citizenship

in a nation that named itself

Israel and copied  apartheid

and learned not from its past.

Or perhaps Israel learned too

much from their past, ancient

and recent. Not to not repeat,

addicted to violence, lost in a

wrong(ed) self-image a nation

arisen out of a genocide that's

building a concentration camp 

to execute their final genocide

thus losing their soul and God.

The olive branches are burning

set on fire by heartless settlers

reliving such era that should no

longer be tolerated on an earth

set on fire by a climate change

that too is man-made. Rescue,

of all innocent, is essential yet

all signs are that it'll not come

from fellow men but from God. 

ⓒ

Note * 

In the city of Utrecht there are

distraught Dutch citizens who

out of pain and solidarity are

reading aloud all the names

of the fallen Palestinians in

Gaza to date. I share their

sadness as well as anger

as I share their shame of

governments not acting.

As I once told a friend

 

Sure, I did write to a true friend,

Si, some books need to be written

for some words require to be spoken

in ink to undo a blanc soul of its virginity

How to become a King after this Queen

To be grand, yet not too explicitly showing 

To be both clever and wise without boasting 

To be able to bear the pain while none notices

in a way Shakespeare answered their questions

He took up the thorns he'd worn for years before us

seeing what he was capable of so much the superior

that served a people, an earth and heaven's kingdom,

hail to Carolus, the wise, the green isle's final monarch

Words, pages full, that will determine our future,

where messenger and angel mocked, o not by me,

but the bearded miscreant preaching from the pulpit

of whatever creed, for these easily swap there colours

claiming they speak for G-D but knowing nought of Him

Thus a writer of literature was knifed by a devilishly stupid

Far from being inadequate, nay, that was not the reason

but He that'd made Dylan sing "times they are a'changing"

was weary of a world so rich with fictitious joy and benignity

measures had to be taken, torment extending beyond deluge

to break and cleanse a failing mankind. On its remnants renew

and protect this Holy Mother, to give birth to true nobility in each

and everyone, that oldest crowned King understood well and why

© 

"Not a gift, but a rot"

 

He learned he was never here,

to reproduce, it wasn't his task,

as this poet so tragically wrote:  

"they weren't blessed with children,

knowing they were blessed without"

He wrote "and here our path departs"

and he replied "how many times and

to how many have you spoken such",

These words he wrote, but it was the voice

of the Prophet he heard in questioning him

As blackness dripped out of his ears

like thoughts running through a mind

leaving no trace or hint of what spoil

For he had learned to live 

next to the lives of others

But him was bought a keyless entry

yet still he had to tread society's mill

as barren and deserted as his heart 

A stranger amongst friends and neighbours

for in his mind - his heart did live elsewhere

© 

Answered the chosen vagabond

But it's in the book he said

for it was written

By whom I asked by whom

it said so he said

I am to be forgiven I confess

by whom I asked

By God and the people he said

why I asked him

Whatever for should God forgive

any crime or sin

Against this earth that He created

and to any on it

It is you who chose evil over good 

wrong over right

Pitiless in life  merciless your death

weighed too light

No dream interpreter needed for this

© 2024-12-05

 

Haiku by Proxy

 

Is this Benjamin

a murderer of children

The answer is yes

Who else by proxy

Donald Joe Jude You Me

All who look away

Please raise your voice now

Genocide put it to shame 

End ethnic cleansing

 

ⓒ 

MAGA alternatives!

 !

MABA    = Make America BENEVOLENT Again

MACA    = Make America COMPASSIONATE Again

MADA    = Make America DEMOCRATIC Again

MAFA     = Make America FREE Again

MAIA      = Make America INCLUSIVE Again

MAKA    = Make America KIND Again

MALA    = Make America LIVEABLE Again

MANA    = Make America NEIGHBORLY Again

MAPA    = Make America PEACEFUL Again

MARA    = Make America RESPECTABLE Again

MASA    = Make America SOCIAL Again

MATA    = Make America TRUSTWORTHY Again

....

Fill in the blanks you find and finish the job yourselves....

!

VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE for DEMOCRACY, FREEDOM and EQUALITY

!

ⓒ

This is the concept of a world

 

This is a world 

where the killing of two in a museum

- however sad -

got that day more attention in the news

than the ongoing slaughter 

of the tens of thousands of innocents 

babies, children, women

through famine upheld by colonisers

This is a world

where covert and openly taken bribes

- however nepotistic -

are no longer considered to be corrupt

and where people's delegates

tremble and bow to the tantrums and 

bullying of a diapered senile 

and oligarchs still having not enough

This is a world

where the average citizen is numbed

- however sad -

by WDisney, feast and designer goods

a world losing sound perspective 

having become so vile and overheated

that a spontaneous combustion

of His three sacred books is imminent

For each word of

contrived intellect

stinging our ether 

seems to be a lie

ⓒ

25052025

This world of today has made me

loose my ability to speak

This world of today will make all

poetry remain a concept

I have lost all desire for this world

ⓒ

A last advice, before 2032-06-08, on truth: The Real Truth; it's still out there, go and find it 💖.

ⓒ

And to quote the cricket from a revered author's novel: "....conscience never dies. There will always be a cricket for those who deserve it, who are worthy....". 

Go, go, go Q and charge the windmills.... 🙏

ⓒ

Note.

It was my father who nicknamed me "Japie Krekel" (Dutch for the Davy Cricket in Pinokkio) 😊

 

He Walked In His Footsteps

He walked into the church

and spoke with the questioning priest

gently explaining his visit

his need to be amongst the believers

though not of their creed

He walked into the mosque

shoes left at the entrance feet washed

said his salam to the imam

bowed knees bend head on the carpet

pagan amongst the faithful

He walked into a synagogue

head covered & carrying a JPS'17 bible

unquestioned being the tenth

of believers in the One God of Avraham*

gentile respected by brothers

He walked into their silence

sat himself down and then joined prayer

his presence acknowledged 

by a silent nod from each quiet believer

the friendly fearless Quaker

He walked his Master's path

had read all of the prophets' holy rhymes

and had already surrendered

before any verse had been written in his

heart for he'd met Him before

He walked into an ill-bred mob

they did not care for him respecting other

people's opinions and religions

they could be pious, illiberal, uneducated

yet that crowd silenced his life

ⓒ

* Ibrahim, Abraham

 

After 25 years

She asked me what present I wished myself for our 25-th anniversary

and though I had already all

her, a house, a dog, a cat, I dared to ask her to write me a poem

and this is what she wrote:

My love,

There you were, over 25 years ago

All of a sudden, for not sought nor expected

My life turned upside down and yet .. not so

And now, after 25 years, there you are

After a brief moment of doubt out of fear

Thought, this fate seized

with both my hands and heart

soul mate and so much more than that

Together, time sensed sweet and short 

in measured time so long already

So much bliss this wonder that you are

you are in my life to remain.

My love great, greater, greatest

Now and then angry behaviour for

you're the ultimate confidant -always-

at hand, shelter for misconceived anger

And now you are here, you large part of me

Undeniably can I no longer be without, us

being complete because we're together

Let this fate always and ever be mine.

Your Elly

© 2012-05-01

Translated and published with kind and graceful permission of my wonderful wife.

Note.

The reader will probably understand why I love her more than life itself.

As Black Stone

 

My heart is a piece of the Ka'bah

..

a living prayer without ending

..

I have entered His mosque thousands of times

as he wielded and shielded me from the beginning

©️25022025 

Meditating on a Surah

 

When reading the poetry

of the beloved

when sinking in thought

on the man I'm

when losing all of myself

to the universe

when I have become nill

or less than nil

when being part of none

whilst bit of all

when joining in entirety

to light in light

when I am just nothing

taken in Him

then I have become all

 

©

Triggered by this:

when I am (become) nothing

in Him

am I then not (become) All..

©

From my original Dutch meditation:

Als ik dan niets ben (geworden)

in Hem

ben ik dan niet alles (geworden)

en deze regels beschrijven / and these lines describe

het zijn en het worden / the to be and the to become

en / and 

de thuiskomst    /    the homecoming

Note.

To be absorbed completely is to have joined entirely.

©

The Source

Would this world not be a desert to me

it is you that keeps me from thirst

Would I not drown in an ocean of sand

your drops of wisdom quench me 

Would I ever want to live in such world 

where your spirit does not roam

Would I ever have been able to love 

without your universe inside me

Would she have ever fallen in love  

had you not  spoken  through my

unpoetic tongue  and  chapped 

lips a whole day and full night 

in her  heart  and to her soul

Would she have ever prayed - like I do - without your blessing

  It's rhetorical    It's rhetorical    It's rhetorical    It's rhetorical 

When I wake up

        you are there

when I pray

        you answer

when I bow

        you reach out

when I'm weary

        you shield me

when I'm asleep

        you breathe life

    and take the i

        out of me and

    make it part

        of your dream

©️05022025   

An Echo To A Storytelling Philosopher

 

For the love of God 

of life - he writes

For the love of 

ink flowing out his pen

and thoughts from his mind

For the love of 

Ibn Rushd over Ghazali

(yet of Plato's soul over Aristotle's)

For the love of 

reason, logic and science

the inevitability of cause and effect

For the love of

a pen mightier than a sword

imagination, knowledge and creation

For the love of 

the One who sends clouds

filled with rain so men can grow

corn and plants and lustrous gardens*

For the love of 

one who teaches through tales 

as enchanting as Shakespeare's and Chekov's

For the love of 

vital poets and prophets

no longer able to defend themselves

For the love of 

faith yet mocking the clergy

and standing up to the powers that be

For the love of 

verity, love and destiny chosen

and holding on to hope against all odds

For the love of 

liberty, equality and fraternity

moderation, sincerity and magnanimity

For the love of 

every silent sacred prayer

murmured to the One and Eternal

He loves and lives

for the love 

of God

©️

Note.

Surely, Aristotle, it is the body that belongs to the soul and vice versa 

and yet, Plato's right, my soul will survive and be freed from this cage.

©️

*  Bible or Quran, you choose....

Zoveel beter zonder.... So much better without.... (English version below).

 

Weer sta ik hier

met een open hand

een glimlach en 

de moed te spreken

van vriendschap

die zo kan ontluiken

tot een vreemde

ondanks al die keer

van een bot nee

niet in woord maar

in daad en denk

wijze 't gebrek aan

intellect of goed

heid. Vergeefsheid

doet mij snellen

naar de uitgang de

eenzaamheid is

zoveel rijker alleen.

© 2024-01-06

Translation.

So much better without....

Again I stand

here with open hand

a smile and

the courage to speak

of friendship

to sprout in an instant

to a stranger

despite all those times

of a rude no

not in word but in sign

and thought

just a lack of mentality

mind or kind

ness. Futility makes

me charge

for the exit while my 

reclusion's

so much richer alone.

© 2024-01-12