Mojave dessert

 










Sunday morning breakfast

window rattling wind

clang banging doors

clattering tin roof in rain

sand-drifting crevasses

all dust my home

desert lilies’ white stain

a jittery fix for cows and deer

as for folks meth & beer

war stories on Sunday mornings

of fallen heroes

at the VFW breakfast boasting

of classified unmarked secret

warfare & all alive to tell it

to the stranger that I am

and in this desert storm

I hear the sand grain wail

The unacceptable

Racism, war, molesting little girls or boys, exploitation of another person, poverty, ruining the planet, Leonard Peltier still in jail, capital punishment... all unacceptable. Our feelings wake up. And I realize that all of this has to do with our values and the judgments based on these values. Yet there is also the unacceptable within myself: traits I don’t like, anger I don’t  want to feel, the dark shadow shrouding my soul, my very private hurts, shortcomings, my darker hidden self which stems from hurt... In the Western world these values are more or less shared  yet abortion, euthanasia, same sex marriage is not accepted in all layers of western population or even illegal in some countries. The more issues are seen as unacceptable, the greater intolerance will become within any given society or political system and thus opposing groups will form. Often the questioning of these shared values will not be tolerated because these values lend an illusionary sense of security. Thus authoritarian attitudes and routine dictate the course of life, suffocating creativity, change, innovation and even our freedom of expression. And still, with all the rules that should be followed, it are always the girls and women who should be decent, less ambitious, not too loud, not too much make up... Actually they are often not allowed to dream or follow their dreams. When young children are killed, we, as a world community know, we feel that this is unacceptable, we grieve with the parents and have to think about how our society functions. Assault weapons are to me unacceptable in the hands of any civilian. Thou shall not kill! Now I have a lot of friends with revolvers, guns, rifles, even uzi’s... I don’t understand the need, nor the fascination of it. I also think of Gaza, of Syria, of  my sister in law’s sun wounded severely in Iraq training paramedics... How many lives lost, maimed. To me violence is unacceptable in whatever guise. Peace on earth always means no war! The light returns... A happy, peaceful New Year to all.

Snow - and refugee camps on the Syrian borders

The first minuscule snow flakes made me smile, hid the church-towers in the distance like a fine fog. Then the flakes grew bigger and I saw the roof tiles getting fluffy edges and the flat roofs turning white. It quietens the city. Time to think and meditate. I have seen pictures of the official Syrian refugee camps in Turkey. In this horrible war cluster bombs are being used in the cities. It is a known fact that those kill mainly children rummaging among the debris of their homes. So families flee with their children and their elders and end up in the no-mans-land between the Turkish and the Syrian border. These people have nothing. Turkey is nice and warm in summer but now there is a harsh winter too. Blankets, sleeping bags, tents is the minimum a family need to protect itself from the elements. The Pen Writers in Prison Committee still received messages about human rights violations in the beginning of the destruction of the country. Now since months and months nothing came through. It is also a shame how cities on the United Nations list of cultural heritage of the world are bombed to smithereens, regardless of the inhabitants. I know people looking for a way to help, to make a difference, if they found a way. I'll let you all know. It is a humanitarian emergency.

Broomstick Revolution

Grandma Edna tells us:
*
“WE NEED CHANGES in this world,
really big BIG changes.
I’m prayin’ they’ll be peaceable changes,
not violent and bloody ones.
I’d like to see a peaceable revolution,
a revolution of broomsticks instead o’ guns.
Call it a Broomstick Revolution.
*
That’s right.
We the People—
AND ESPECIALLY US WOMEN!—
pick up our broomsticks
and work together to Sweep Injustice Out!
~
YOU CAN’T JOIN the Broomstick Revolution.
You’re already PART of it
if you believe in peace and Mother Earth
and respect for all living things.
~
The Broomstick Revolution is NOT an organization.
The Broomstick Revolution is inside of each of us,
in every beating heart of humankind,
a sacred place where we listen to the Creator
and follow Creator’s Instructions
to sweep out injustice and violence.
~
NEVER raise a broom in violence.
Your broomstick is a symbol of PEACE.
Peace is our purpose.
Peace is our method.
Peace is our philosophy.
Peace is our Goal.
ONLY PEACE WILL BE EFFECTIVE!
~
MAKE PEACE YOUR
CENTRAL THOUGHT!
~
I’D LIKE TO SEE THAT ‘60’S PEACE SYMBOL
painted on the broom-heads.
Then plant’m like FLOWERS OF PEACE
in your front yards, on streetcorners,
in front o’ stores and schools and churches and banks.
Plant’m by the millions. When they rip’ m out, plant’m again!
AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN!
Ain’t no end to how many agains there can be!
~
Love all people, even--especially--your 'enemies'.
We want to save the world, not destroy it.
Let everyone—even the One Percent—be included!
~
Some advice: Stay out of big crowds
that are easily turned into mobs.
They’re waitin’ for mobs.
Work alone or in small groups,
groups of Leaders.
There are no followers
in the Broomstick Revolution.
We are ALL LEADERS!
TELL’M GRANDMA EDNA TOLD YOU SO!

November salon 12b

A small but select group of poets participated in last nights salon 12b. From the former poet laureate of Antwerp, Peter Holvoet-Hanssen, to poet Rudy Witsy who with Tony Rombouts presented their latest book 'Duo', from  German poet, Fred Schywek to American busker, singer songwriter Ken Post performing with Ingeborg a surprising dialog between Anaïs Nin and Jack Kerouac. Beautiful anti war texts were read by Willem Persoon. A video by swoon was also much enjoyed. Poetry by Rose Vandewalle was read from a current translation project. Roger Nupie opened the night with some thought provoking poems. Great stuff all of it. The audience was attentive, enjoyed the cake by Rose, the cheese pie by Hakata and the goulash soup by Fred. Uncyia from the Leonard Peltier chapter brought some postcards to be signed for his release. Thus beauty and commitment went hand in hand during the whole evening.

Rose's

(Kleine Nachtmusik)

The room

suddenly tilts and turns        

caches me

in its grabby arms

its hands ablaze with longing

arouse me

with each of its fiery tongues

envelops me transports me

the room

scorching breath

whirlpool and spiral

the room

oh it spins and stalls

soon in higher gear

drags me down in its fall

ends in a plunge

a prodigious shivering plunge

Drones - Text from Amnesty USA

Today I bring the thoughtful text of Amnesty USA concerning drones, a subject which has since the beginning bothered me. It seems clean and clear but it kills. Remember: Thou shallt not kill.

Amnesty USA's text:

I am writing to urge you to take immediate steps to bring the United States government's policies on the use of armed drones, and other such "targeted killings" or "signature strikes", in line with US obligations under international human rights law and, in the very limited circumstances where it also applies, international humanitarian law.

What has already been publicly revealed about these policies and practices is enough to conclude that the current US approach is unlawful, violating the fundamental human right of anyone, wherever in the world they may be found, not to be arbitrarily deprived of his or her life. However, it is clear that many details about the legal and factual underpinnings for both the policies and for particular killings are still being kept secret. This would include the alleged 2010 classified Department of Justice (Office of Legal Counsel) memorandum reported to give the legal justification for the killing of US citizens without trial in certain circumstances, such as occurred in the case of Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen in September 2011.

We in the public may not yet know all the individual names or identities of the people who the US government has killed under these policies, but we do know some things more generally about them. We know that among those killed were some who were essentially accused in secret of crimes or other wrongdoing but in respect of whom no efforts were made to bring them to justice in a court of law. We know that there were others about whom the government had no specific information but who may simply have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. We know that among those killed have been men of different ages, women, and children. We also know that every one of the people the government has killed, whoever they were and whatever they may have been believed to have done, had the right not to be arbitrarily deprived of his or her life. International human rights standards define what is and is not an arbitrary deprivation of life. Outside of specific recognized zones of armed conflict, states must comply with law enforcement standards. The integrity of the international system for protection of human rights depends in no small part on states respecting the fundamental principle that the more permissive targeting rules under the laws of war apply only within such zones of armed conflict.

While I recognize that some of the killings in question, if conducted in the context of specific recognized zones of armed conflict may not be in violation of international human rights or international humanitarian law, current US policies appear also to permit extrajudicial executions in violation of international human rights law, virtually anywhere in the world. Among the particular concerns of Amnesty International are:

- the government's continued reliance on a "global war" legal theory that treats the entire world as a battlefield between the USA and armed groups, on which lethal force may potentially be used virtually anywhere at any time without regard to human rights standards;

- the administration's invocation of the right to use force in self-defence to justify the deliberate killing of virtually anyone suspected of involvement of any kind in relation to a range of armed groups and/or terrorism against the USA, particularly through the adoption of a radical re-interpretation of the concept of "imminence";

- reports that a "guilty until proven innocent" approach is taken to military-age males who are killed by a strike, even if there is no specific evidence that they were directly participating in hostilities in a specific armed conflict;

- the fact that key factual and legal details of the killing programme remain shrouded in secrecy.

These aspects of US policy and practice are not only of concern in their own right: they also weaken the credibility of the USA as an advocate for respect for human rights by other states; they set dangerous precedents that other states may exploit to avoid responsibility for their own unlawful killings; and if unchecked there is a real risk that the US "global war" doctrine will further corrode the foundations of the international framework for protection of human rights. There has also been widespread speculation that current US policies and practices with respect to such killings may inadvertently be building support for the very armed groups and terror attacks that US officials say provide its justification.

I call on you to

- Ensure that the US refrains from all unlawful use of lethal force, including against individuals suspected of terrorism.

- Ensure maximum effort by the US, in cooperation with other states, to ensure that those responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks in the USA, and for planning or carrying out similar such attacks anywhere in the world, are brought to justice for their crimes in fair and public trials without recourse to the death penalty.

- Disclose further legal and factual details about US policy and practices for so-called 'targeted killings', 'signature strikes', and "Terrorist Attack Disruption Strikes", including the alleged 2010 classified Department of Justice (Office of Legal Counsel) memorandum reported to give the legal justification for the killing of US citizens without trial in certain circumstances, such as occurred in the case of Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen in September 2011.

- End claims that the USA is authorized by international law to use lethal force anywhere in the world under the theory that it is involved in a 'global war' against al-Qa'ida and other armed groups and individuals.

- Recognize the application of international human rights law to all US counter-terrorism operations including those outside US territory.

- Bring US policies and practices on the use of lethal force in counter-terrorism operations in line with the USA's international human rights obligations, particularly, by:

- Ensuring that any use of lethal force outside of specific recognized zones of armed conflict complies fully with the USA's obligations under international human rights law, including by limiting the use of force in accordance with international human rights standards for the use of force in law enforcement;

 - Ensuring that any use of lethal force within a specific recognized zone of armed conflict complies fully with the USA's obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law, including by recognizing and respecting the rule that if there is doubt as to whether a person is a civilian, the person is to be considered a civilian.

- Ensuring independent and impartial investigations in all cases of alleged extrajudicial executions or other unlawful killings, respect for the rights of family members of those killed, and effective redress and remedy where killings are found to have been unlawful.

Four more years: elections matter!

Being female, mixed background, pro-choice, for GLBT equal rights, convinced that climate change is a danger to the world and worrying about the wars that are still raging, I am glad Barack Obama carried this election. Most people don't vote their interest but their values, which include for me caring, accepting diversity (race, gender, age, migrant groups...), the environment, including energy issues, and social justice, healthcare. So I count myself as part of the democratic coalition which has better visions for our possible futures and did vote my values. I look forward to the President bringing home the troops from Afghanistan so that thee are no more foreign wars to be fought and that we can concentrate on rebuilding what is broken in the USA and be peacemakers and bridge builders in the world. That is my dream and hope for the country: freedom and dignity for all, generous and tolerant, the most diverse nation of the world. Let's all keep reaching.

Futures envisioned in song and dance: Hola!

Agencefuture got it's start years ago in London. After a doctorate about the images of the future on the BBC, Maya wondered how the future was imagined in the real world. She and photographer - camera man and fervent cyclist Bram set out in the world on recumbent bikes to go in search of the images other people hold. Their latest venture was the Maono project for which they made a wonderful road book for each of the participants to fill out or to be inspired by.
A wonderful result of the cooperation between development aid, research into the future and working together with artists in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the song 'Hola' which has been written and composed and performed as part of the project. Joy and peace, creativity, understanding and a good dose of perfectionism and respect are the ingredients of this heartwarming song.

No war with Iran

The poem by Fred Schywek in German and in English is the transformation by a younger poetry generation poet of the controversial long poem by Gunter Grass published in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the largest quality paper in Germany and in La Republica (Italy). In this political poem Günter Grass speaks against the fact that the Israeli government claims the right for a first atomic strike against Iran. Source Tagesschau.

 *

Warum why

Warum

schweige ich

verschweige

lang

was offensichtlich

im Planspiel

geübt

an deren Ende

als Lebende

wir allenfalls

Fußnuß

Why why

Why

do I keep silent

hush up

a long time

what obviously

has been practiced

in a planning game

at the end of which

living creatures

we certainly

footnut

Lighthouse and Traces have arrived

Two books for the presentation on March 23rd in De Zwarte Panter in Antwerp (8 PM) have arrived Roger Nupie's Lighthouse* Lichthaus was the first to come out of the crate. The title of the book refers to the novel of Virginia Woolf, just as the moving poem The waves. His poetry presented here is solemn, speaking of missing and longing. In the cycle  Her handwriting he remembers his grandmother kindly with the deep love of  grandson. Roger Nupie questions conventions in Self portrait, is playful and explicitly erotic in several poems, a.o. in Olivette. Yet he also challenges conventions in his self-portrait, no longer fulfilling the romantic image of a poet, but also in two poems about war and its consequences. The German translation is by Fred Schywek and the English by Annmarie Sauer. The translations are always proofread with the authors who authorize  them.

To the lighthouse                                                Zum Leuchtturm

De liefde                                                               Die Liebe

verliest                                                                 verliert

haar getijden.                                                      ihre Gezeiten.

Dat wegebben blijft                                             Das Wegebben bleibt

ons bij, versteend                                                uns erhalten, versteinert

op de oever.                                                          auf dem Ufer.

Nooit                                                                      Nie

halen we                                                                holen wir

morgen.                                                                 das Morgen.

TO THE LIGHTHOUSE

Love

looses

its tides.

This ebbing away stays

with us petrified

on the shore.

Never

will we make it

to tomorrow.

a yawn on stone

 A yawn on stone is a project fFank De Vos has initiated. Faded publicity is photographed and a poet is asked to write something inspired by the picture. Some of the poets who participated in he project: From left to right: Luciene Stassaert, Hilde Van Cauteren, Peter Holvoet-Hanssen, Annmarie Sauer (half), Ann Van Dessel, Rose Vandewalle (half), Yerna Van den Driessche, Frank De Vos en Pierre Magis. Vooraan van links naar rechts Albert Hagenaars, Bert Bevers, Marleen De Crée, Hans Mellendijk en Richard Foqué.

 The district of Hoboken had together with Frank com up with an interesting formula. The event started with a light breakfast for poets and audience alike.

Then baroque music opened the readings.  Two poets enjoying the moment.

Rose on her eserved seat an Lucienne chilling out before reading.





I had often wondered  why this instrument was called viola da gamba. Well now I saw it: The instrument doesn't rest on the floor like a cello. It is clenched between the legs and kind of rests on the lower leg. I love the sound of this instrument.

Yet I love the sound of a human voice even better, I like to listen to poets reading: excellently like Lucienne or Peter. Yet even poets reading badly tell me some thing extra about their texts. But of our bunch all who read did well.

.

Of course poets are part of our troubled society: thus we had the empty chair for Lui Xiaobo, being a prisoner of conscience. And I, i once again could help mysel and uttered as my final words: and more over i m of the opinion that Nato should be abolished. The audience was silent, then laughed and applauded. 

Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941

Today, 70 years later, the attack on Pearl Harbor is commemorated and the USA joined in WWII. Now I usually don't divulge personal information on the blog. But the way I tell my private history runs as follows: Without Pearl Harbor I wouldn't be there. My father was an American GI who had volunteered. He liberated my mother, loved and married her. She followed him to the USA on one of the ships with the war brides. I was born a good year later and for my mother American dream turned into American nightmare and she went back home with her bundle of grief under her arm...

I tell the story this way because many children my generation are just as I an aftermath of the war. So I try to be non-violent and words and deeds. Ahimsa, to all of you and blessed be the peacemakers.

The child has the father’s name

That is all he is

a name - a seldom-heard voice

a story lost

With the fading of his glory

he lives on in a dream

reconstructed the charming hero

that he was

or more muddled

           motley

the bis-tris-dis-

illusion

of a mother’s life

So the child has a name

any name

The name of the wind

sitting in the rocking chair

with empty screeching

of wood on wood

The first name

 that would last.

The Festival

Last Saturday was the day filled with beauty and warmth, words whispered and shouted, poets of the page and great performers. We worked in 4 languages and the audience got it. We had a great crowd, appreciative and warm. We found help for letting people in, for the bar, for a bookstand of the authors. There was a table  of the writers in prison comittee and a Free Leonard Peltier flag. The poets who were featured alone read well and the groups that created a performance created a ballance that ballanced and lead to enjoyment and thoughtfulness. The anti war and pro peace section was an imposing statement in its beauty and strength.

The next day two of our invited  poets- devorah major and Olivier Cousin- were invited to another literature festival. They didn't think about the translation, so we had to pick up the slack of others, which we gladly did for our two poet friends. And then  on monday night there was a small Barbershop reading which probably will evolve into something bigger. Devorah enjoyed the old countryside hotel, near the Rhine and we filmed her speaking, performing some poems. Then  The next day we dropped her of  at the airport and she is now in Sarajevo at a Festival.

You'll find the slideshow and many more items at world-internet-books.com

Now the administative stuff has to be taken care of and the books with the great poetry in several languages have to be produced.

Susan Birkeland was honored end remembered... Her poem was read by Fred Schywek and myself in 

German and Dutch.