Departure: The Poetry of Theodorus J. van Joolen Read online

Acceptance

  It’s light. Wake up.

  A nightmare nam

  Robs you of joy.

  Why live in pain?

  Mephisto’s toy.

  No work, no shame.

  Not up to par.

  Did no one tell?

  Nothing you are.

  So, be excused.

  Do as you wish.

  Anger defused.

  Hemingway

  The FBI could not care less

  The IRS ignored you

  I want to know your reason

  Would much prefer to understand

  It wasn’t you, was it?

  My friend.

  Emily

  Emily ain’t a Labrador

  Nor a Rhodesian Ridgeback

  Wish I could tell a little more

  But, frankly, I don’t give a heck.

  You look just fine to me, my friend.

  So why would I describe you.

  You do not have a pedigree.

  That’s, maybe, why I like you.

  End of Summer

  This summer on the mountains

  Deluded all of us.

  We drink from different fountains.

  It’s best the way it was.

  Alert

  What did you see

  I did not see?

  Was there one deer,

  Or were there three?

  You heard,

  Did you?

  I didn’t hear.

  Your ears were up.

  A fledgling flew?

  What did you smell,

  I did not smell?

  I’d better learn.

  My brain has words,

  But does not sense

  The wordless way.

  Your way.

  Uncertainty

  If I can hack it, little pal,

  We will be out and up again.

  My back still hurts

  A spinal pain.

  It’s hard to tell

  What happens next.

  A secret text

  In hidden nerves.

  For future reference.

  I’ll do my best.

  Blind Faith

  Nerve complaints,

  Unsteady hands,

  Are unworthy of the saints.

  Nothing happens here per chance.

  Brooding

  Escaping deer.

  Give we did,

  Give more,

  Then give.

  After this: no giving.

  Such the way we have to live.

  Life reduced, but living.

  Escaping deer:

  Watch the coyotes.

  Hamlet

  The politics of action

  Isa profound idea.

  But I have lost my sight.

  An ‘I owe you’ I cannot be,

  A paid performer neither.

  The give and take across the fence

  Is difficult to straddle.

  I’m shipwrecked on a coral reef.

  It’s war or peace.

  This I must leave to others.

  I cannot wear a stranger’s mask.

  The peacock has its feathers..

  Deception

  Madame, you are the greatest.

  Really! So flexible.

  Your record highly rated.

  You are not hard to sell.

  Tomorrow you will call me?

  Oh no, this will not do.

  Be patient, dear, and tell me,

  If you like China too.

  The merchandise we sell here,

  You’ll find much to your taste.

  Good-bye, my dear, it’s break time,

  I have no time to waste.

  Call me next week or later.

  Good luck to you for now.

  Nice meeting you, and thank you.

  Culinary Delight

  Potatoes feed us twice a day,

  Like when we were in Holland.

  A meal so rich in people food

  Is magic for my stomach.

  A little margerine and salt

  To satisfy the taste buds.

  No lobster, crab or veal to start.

  Humble repeat.

  Crumbly potatoes à la carte.

  Fresh coffee stirs the weakened will.

  Our breakfast makes me think of joy.

  Poet be still.

  Real riches flow your way.

  On course you are.

  Potatoes we eat twice a day.

  The Don

  Alive and well,

  Let’s drink some wine.

  We want to waltz

  When feeling fine.

  An invitation to the dance.

  No longer I am rabbit.

  The ancient warrior has a lance.

  Who needs to kick the habit?

  Games

  The trail is mine.

  But will they let this hiker be?

  I spoke too much of fear and pain.

  A ragged tale.

  It’s hard to play

  A daily game.

  “How do you do?”

  “I’m fine. Feel great.”

  A role like that does not sound true.

  Sometimes there’s love, sometimes it’s hate.

  An optimist on brighter days,

  When there’s no trouble at the gate.

  The ups and downs.

  The different ways,

  The smiles, the frowns

  Of integrated living.

  Peeled Orange

  Paltry sweepers,

  Bled anemic.

  So much servitude.

  Shoulders stooped.

  Conditioned eyes.

  Medusa queens.

  Royal accents.

  Lies.

  Clipped birds of prey.

  Such tragedy.

  Such grey.

  Genes

  Searching for genesis

  Stuff I haven’t seen

  Double helixes,

  Giving secrets away.

  What is this DNA?

  I read the words,

  A chemical language.

  It’s easy to forget,

  To talk about genetic pools,

  And not to understand.

  I am two fools,

  Equal in ignorance,

  Smarter than a grunyon.

  Slowness sweems swift

  Too many directions

  Wayward I drift

  I’m not so keen

  Can someone tell me?

  What’s a gene.

  Singing in the rain

  My voice is good enough

  To be myself.

  It’s just that I hold back

  And don’t remember arias.

  I risked my neck

  For people’s sake.

  Why not a song?

  Stay with the pace

  Of climbing feet.

  Or hold my tongue.

  None of those ugly words.

  Setback

  Why this sensation?

  It was not worth

  So much elation

  Cover with love

  Your indignation.

  Danger

  Beefy fata morgana.

  Coloratura of terror.

  Pretentions falsetto.

  Breaking the mirror.

  Stiff starch.

  Kill will.

  Then charge.

  You’re ill.

  Luctor et emergo

  Unwritten pages.

  Luck in the end.

  Open the cages.

  Stretch out your hands.

  Friend

  Emily has no problems.

  My dog is a genius.

  She knows my every blasted move.

  I cannot fool this wonder.

  When I am torn to sea by ebb,

  Or float in tidal pools.

  When I fall victim to my moods,

  Or sink in stagnant waters,

  She always wants to pull me through.


  Her joy enough for both of us.

  She cares. That’s why she is alert.

  She does not cause a lot of fuss.

  When I am lying in the dirt,

  She pulls me up,

  Looks at my face

  She does not want me in a daze.

  She knows so much.

  Night

  I understand this mystery.

  The day a Mozart Gloria.

  I know this when I walk the night.

  The mountain’s statue in the dark.

  There’s more to sun than warmth and light.

  The other side of day.

  Dark purple velvet.

  Starry sky.

  Relief from filtered gold.

  A new creation,

  When sun has set.

  Night’s story told

  Under the Milky Way.

  Pirouette

  A pirouette is not for me.

  The doctor would forbid it.

  But all this action throws me free,

  And Emily jumps with it.

  A swaying sun above my head,

  The west wind playing in the treas.

  I so much like to pirouette.

  And Emily gives me a lick

  When you are healthy you forget.

  No longer sick.

  Athena

  Accept your fortune, my dear friend..

  There is no reason to feel sore.

  A little cash flow, when well-spent,

  Will also benefit the poor.

  Just don’t be snotty,

  Or a bore.

  Wish I could take you on tour

  To my beloved mountain.

  Clipped

  No explaining on my part.

  There’s no need for all this fuss.

  Frazzled nerves and shaking.

  Charlatan and wimp and such.

  Honesty, not faking.

  Nobility

  Lord Palmgrove is our favorite knight.

  We serve him chicken with delight.

  He changes everybody’s mood,

  Because we think he’s jolly good.

  We cut our lawns when Palmie comes.

  Since hummingbirds do need their hums,

  We leave the bottle brush intact.

  It won’t produce a cataract.

  His monocle, I hope, won’t drop,

  As long as Palm is satisfied,

  We burn the wood and light the light.

  And for his fans the time will stop.

  Dream

  Something good will happen soon.

  I was told in last night’s dreams.

  Wish I knew what all this means.

  Want to play a different tune.

  Choice

  When I converse with Emily,

  My son says I’m a weirdo.

  A man who’s talking to his dog

  Is sure to raise an eyebrow.

  But when I speak she looks content,

  As if she understands me.

  Of course I’m wrong,

  Yet I feel

  She’s gratefull for my voice.

  There is no steel.

  She has a choice.

  Her eyes, her eyes, they answer.

  Vincent

  Vincent, glad to have you back.

  Three months is too long to fight.

  When we fought we did not cate.

  At my moving hands I stare.

  See if words reveal the truth.

  I don’t know. It’s all up there.

  In the cosmos or the heart.

  THE END