Been living here

Been living here
twenty-six years and some
Between those four walls
lies my life's history
a sun going down, a moon rising
the dust never settled
the rest never left

There are my books
a strange fascinating arrangement
pictures on the wall,
got some decoration on the wall
Bleu azur and bright blue
lighten up the cues

Been living here
twenty-six years and some
beds came and crashed
posters tore off or went on
and the window sight
in an ever changing scene
a tree recently knocked down,
pale orange the lone
street lantern light

This was my room and so will be
my stories from hitherto gone on
I'll collect my memories,
a birthday crown, my fluffy penguin
in a box they'll promptly disappear
The cramped up cupboard sights in relief
as the end of the year draws near

A new chapter, new four walls
will surround my private story
but never will the humble memory and glory
disappear at all
My tiny room empties but never falls

Natuur en Ik

Op een klif, in het schaarse gras
de rotsen blinkend als van glas
een horizon verruimt wat ooit was
de golven dollen in het getij
sierlijke duiken, vrij
-Ik -

Op de rand, uren en uren
over de wulpse vlakken turen
mijn hart breekt uit de muren
negen zeehonden losbandig en frank
stenen rigide in saluut en rank
-Ik -

Boven het geruis, in de wind
hoor ik het uitroepen van menig kind
dat plots dit schouwspel vindt
en wijl het water terug vloedt
een dalende namiddaggloed
-Ik -

Een dame wenkt mij, zo gekend en onbekend
Overal en nergens waar zij zich wendt
In mij en rondom mij, zee en land
rond het Ik, voor haar gestrand

Novemberavond impressie

Twee bij twee fladderen ze voorbij
de spreeuwen in het roze en pastelblauw
Nacht sluiert het verre bos in tinten grauw
De regen stopte eventjes, modderige brij

Violet kleuren de wolken, ze drijven voorbij
loom zweven ze de spreeuwen achterna
Duivenkoren in de grote tuinboom wijzen de dag na
Oranje straatlampen lichten, rij aan rij

Weer een dag vervlogen, vliegende tijd
maar frisse en rode wangen, een gemoed verblijd

I dreamt

When a child, I dreamt to discover
New lands to be seen
New countries to be explored
but now it's the urban jungle
and the unknown streets
I have to face, not the jaguars
and not the spiders to be afraid of
but traffic lights and rush hours

As a child I dreamt four wheel drive
I dreamt in mud and earth
air of dust and fire of sand
water of creeks and rocks
I dreamt colourful places
ample to be painted
but now it's my current life
I have to explore, women around
expectations instead of unknown nations
But never left the dream
I dreamt as a child

Vrolijke meisjes op straat

Het is zo klaar aan de horizon
op de velden een bedrijvigheid
Niet iets dat ik verzon
Een maand van appels en oogstijd
en vrolijke meisjes op straat
met hun echoëende nazomerpraat

Het is zo klaar in de verre verte
de velden strekken en wiegen
licht licht een lichte begeerte
Ver van kranten, woorden en bedriegen
en vrolijke meisjes op straat
op hun volborstig plezier geen maat

Het is zo klaar deze namiddag
de bomen ritselen teder en zacht
in mijn tot rust gekomen gedacht
In de klare verte klinkt gelach
en vrolijke meisjes op straat
Vol dromen kijk ik ze na...

Barren lands

It's a time to hunker down
but still the roving heart goes out
this weather as the day I was born in
the cold rain to line the street's din

It's a time to enjoy warmth
but still the hunting heart alarms
those trees as the morning I greeted first
while crying of fatigue and thirst

Hear the wind rustle up the leaves
stalking the houses like thieves
In my seat, linked through the sands
Time flees through my hands,
sowing my memories upon barren lands

The rain's deluge brings refuge
My heart moves once again in its groove
and while this worn seat withstands the clock
My heart boards a lone ship at the dock
and while the sea greets the man
he views upon his barren lands

Barren lands of love and friendship
barren lands of heartbreak and hardship

It's a time to hunker down
to remember a soft frown
to read and think of her soulful eyes
every once again in a while

As it rains, I'm one of the islands
commandeering my barren lands ...

Cloudmaker

I am a cloudmaker
bringing up the vapour
up to where it belongs
got some different colour,
name your song
I've got mauve, beige, blue and gray
orange and pink, if you wish for more play
it's real, enticing,
let me show you the pricing

I am a cloudmaker
drifting on the vapour
painting flurries in the skies
and if it pleases your eyes
let me show you the sample card
it's a whole range of art

I am a cloudmaker
at your service
to meet your wishes
in my giant machinery
of wondrous steaming refinery
selling vapour

Schommel

Schommel
wiegt zachtjes
en blikt terug
op voorbije charmante lachjes
Vervlogen

Waterkant impressie

Kabbelend brabbelend 't water
Babbelend in zijn geklater
Roerend toerend rond
Ruisend al te bond

Razend rond rotsen ruig rood
Ritselend riet dat weerwerk bood
Roetsjbaan ruim rivalerend
rijkelijk romige rozengeur infiltrerend
Rust suist zacht
spreidend stilte zoet
zoemend zomerse nacht

De lofzang door
een melodieus krekelkoor
krakend en kriekend en krekelend
Zijden zoom van es fezelend
Daar langs die vruchtbare waterkant
Waar geluk nog geen ijdel uitspreken zijn kan

July

A lone street,
a grass field
designs of cray
leaving in the spray
the rain drops
July has gone

Former youthful ideas
now distant memories
All we were those days
Children at play

A wooden slide
it had seen the years
chirping house martins
and a craving for
some icecream, mama
July and school was
A future
far, far ahead

Former youthful games
now time seems tame
All we were those days
Children at play

The sun beat the roof
Mama, it was hot outside
the rubber pool and
the green watering can
the neightbouring kids
asked me to join the play
A lone street;
July

Just a game today

Whistling through the air
surfing on well known songs
After all, life's just a refrain
no time to restrain

A hunting heart in its lair
on the prowl years ago, far too long
Stop, rewind, stop and play
life's just a game today

Now it's settled once again
The chained and walled heart in its den
Now it's just a game of memory
life's just another old story

So keep on, get it on
the stereo pushes on
Stop, rewind, stop and play
life's just a game today

A hermit

I'm a hermit at a wild raging sea
a forlorn war zone only I can see
Hidden thoughts on lee
My toes kick the stones and the pebbles
lessening a pain that thrives and never ebbs
As the sound recalls scenes past,
downwards the beach I hurried fast
to find a prevailing wind and try, fly
like the petrels on the move to the sky

I'm a hermit at a wild lonely desert
only the baking writhing sands
as a reminder that rightly serves
as the petrel cautiously lands
on the rocks that lend a hand
to those that wander and rant

I'm the hermit one rarely sees
ragged I ain't nor do I have wise words
it's just plain old me in a foreign world
ever attempting for the pugnacious breaking free

Dreams of yonder

Well ...
I've been dreaming
of a bird
A blue day to come along
I've been dreaming candlelights
ice cream vans and dreams of yonder

Well ...
Uncover my eyes
Open the curtains that
I've been staring at
for a time too long to tell
Open the curtains
I want to see my stage
a garden in the rain

Well ...
I've seen things lost,
fields and dogs
forests and dwelling days
but I've seen my garden in the rain

Well ...
It's all cliches and souvenirs
I've been saving memories
I've been catching candlelights
And I'll have a feeling
to keep on reeling in
clocks that tick away
the precious few

I'll have my dreams diluting
my dreams of yonder ...

Groen treuren de bomen

Dromen, opspattend water
breekpunt, verrader
een brullende pijn op ijzer
Te traag wijzer ...

Gieren in de waterval
Gevederd komt voor de val
Beklemming, onverlost;
het lot is aan de bal

Streepjes tellen op de einder
verloren iets fijnder
en afgestreept de dromen
groen treuren de bomen.

Loathing time

I come from a long-traveled road
nowhere to go, and just feeling fine
I picked up a girl, cosy under one coat
we're staring at the skies, loathing time
and while the moon beams of memories,
the gentle river reminds us of some instabilities
A life changes, a routine rearranges

I come from a long-traveled road
no destination to follow, feeling glad
I could hop around like a welfaring toad,
eyes on a balcony of a neightbouring flat
just watching the flower bloom

I come from a long-traveled road
nowhere to go, and just feeling fine
I picked up a girl, cosy under one coat
we're staring at the skies, loathing time ...

Natural sadness

Waving seas of windy green
Far beyond civilization
a true nature's exhibition
and fragile to be seen
a raging fire waiting for the rain
on the great plain

In roots lies culture
in the ground of nature
Earth, a gentle nurse
and humanity built upon a curse

Truth let beyond bucks and grease
and with incredible ease
raped richness of the seas
spilled among our fingers and hands
doomed to be bare our children's lands

Below a moon smiling with a forced grin
Staring to fishes in death pinned
Gazing to elephants in their prime broken
and the hunters, behind a lion, finally taken
Shimmering shades in the rain forests
in front of our eyes an ultimate test

History of the past fifty years to be forgotten
Traditions to be mended, healed
a wrong route to turn in a strong wind
Tears along beaches oil tinted
Frozen sadness along blood covered seals
Their corpses, on the ice, slowly rotten
Mentality of the past fifty years to be forgotten

An honest and beautiful earth endangered
and a humanity to be rearranged

Cloud of sound

On a cloud of sound
I'm wandering around
Can't feel solid soil
liquid I am between words
and language of places
well known to me once

On a cloud of sound
I'm looking around
to a life that was never mine
Never felt that fine
below the rays of eternal sunshine
Got to hold my own line
in the empty air
Floating with lethal flair

On a cloud of sound
I view upon grounds
strange lines upon my eye
of what was once used to me
Now I am lonely free
Sociability nor contact can I
link to this state of grief
on this cloud of sound

I post this one, even though it's quite personal, for all those out there who have to go through their days with a damaged hearing. It's not always easy in (new) groups and chance encounters but we can do it nonetheless. Now, seven years later, I find I can handle it much easier than I could before but it gave me some whippings while growing up. This is a reminder of those hard times. I sometimes read it again once in a while to remind me of this struggle I keep on winning. I hope I can convey that same sentiment to others out there. It's always nice to remember you're not the only one.

Old boy's dream

It's an old boy's dream, freed from the seams
harking back to days of joyful play
on the floor the stories unfolded
wheels and future could-be's revolved

It's an old boy's dream, a sporting machine
quite some rust, quite some tear and wear
flaking dust, been on the roads god knows where
but now it resides in my own juvenile eyes

Boys will be boys, my mother did sight
My father just told me to do what I'd like
and now my sister declares me a branded fool
for this piece of misery, it's just a tool

But it's an old boy's dream, my own sporting machine ...

A sudden squall of rain

A sudden squall of rain
surprised the fields, green of spring
A smell of the rain on the dry earth
while my companion, all senses awake
walks with his muddy paws, next to me

A sudden squall of rain
surprised the climbing lark, its song a joyful ring
while the hares look for shelter in their berth
the forest shakes the drops upon our wake
while my companion leaps up happily, next to me

Lentekriebels

Lichte lucht ligt zwaar
op verhitte muren
Onder een uitgebloeide kerselaar
mijmerend in eindeloze uren
Stiekem opzij gluren
naar vrouwelijke frivoliteit
Een gevoel, van tijdloze tijd

Vlinders slurpen, bijen surfen
Een stiekem meer durven
Lentekriebels ...

Fluffy

Footprints at the sky
and a quiet sense
Wondering about the two
with a fluffy friendship
running across the lonesome mind
A wistful whisker

From the earth came a sound
unleashed and reborn
Back to an origin of spirits
when one was two

For all the dogs I've known and the friendship they always give me.

Cast ashore

We were like strangers
cast ashore
Unaware of the dangers
lurking flotsam of sweet autumn days
castaway memories of fog and rain
glistening hair in the salt winds
upon the masts fluttered a colourful lint

We were like strangers
cast ashore
caught up in tales and lore
Talking up seemingly forevermore

We were like strangers
cast ashore
won't be caught reminiscing
our days of yore

Among the dunes I looked about
A glance stole away above the waves
like then, the tide was going out
and the bow inside me heaved and gave

Months went by, time just a score
a lone frigate on lee, dutiful ranger
In its wake I finally wake
We were like strangers
cast ashore

Eindelijk

Eindelijk is het voorbij
De slaap heeft gewonnen
door een straaltje omsponnen
Het sterk geklop moegestreden
Tijd die we ooit verdeden
Een flikkeren, nu gedaan
Gesmoorde lach in een traan
Voorbij over die woeste rivier
Jij in het daar en wij hier
Eindelijk is het voorbij

Voor een sterke dame, het gaat je goed tante.

Zoete slaap

Het druppelt zachtjes
in een land van wensen
tussen bomen dwarrelt
een vleugje lente

Het leven trippelt zachtjes
voorbij aan iedereen
het is een komen en gaan
in een zoete slaap

Open Question

Sometimes it's an open question
all leads trailing off to who knows where
An open path, open gates in the sun
a closing key rattling in there

A loss from a hospital's fourth story
filled to the brims of a family story

Grasping opportunities before they flee
hailing lands I want to see

Sometimes it's all an open question
in the mind of doubt, a rising sun
And a distant wondering
a quiet evening spent pondering

La rivière

La rivière insolente a l'air sombre
elle fait rappeler, là dans l'ombre
Elle foudroie dans la rue cet inconnu qui passe
Et qui n'oubliera plus ce parfum qui volait;
dans sa chambre,
un rêve détruit dans la transparence

Mais mes nuits sont mes églises
La chanson de la rivière ma source vive
L'aller-retour à la solitude limpide
comme la vague irrésolue, intrépide

La rivière insolente a l'air sombre
elle fait philosopher, là dans l'ombre
Elle touche le coeur de cet inconnu qui vient d'arriver
et qui n'oubliera plus des mots qui font partie du silence;
de douce minuit,
un rêve dissolu dans la fin de nuit

Think of me

It's a road paved
with shattered fantasies
the clouds waved
through the throng of the seas

The waves murmur about
what had been and could have been
but that doesn't hold me in
I'm still out, on the roads about

Just think of me
and the young illusions I recall
When I'm still standing tall
in front of reality

It's a measure of a man
when he's freed from the shackles of the boy
not to lose what made him burst of joy
when he's out to find a new land

It's a fight, alright,
but not one to keep me under
they can cry storm and thunder
but won't keep me under

I'm growing wise, seasons have passed
I'm still around, I had my seatbelts fastened
Your 'how' hangs unspoken in the low light,
But really, it all hangs on a rare smile
to make all the wars and scars worthwhile

Despite all my younger self's dreams
I like to imagine I'm rather well off
Sure, there are cracks and seams
But this mind has a life, keeping it aloft

Because you just have to think of me
and the young illusions I recall
When I'm still standing tall
in front of reality

Het eenzame meisje

Gekras van de kraaien
en gekoer der duiven
die de sneeuw opwaaien
en de grijze wolken uitwuiven

Stil het water, breed en sterk
en bij de gespleten berk
staat zij daar, aan de rand
het eenzame meisje aan de waterkant

Vrij van realiteit, verloren in tijd
en melancholie bedreven zonder spijt
ze staat daar, haar leven steeds een "maar"
en zachtjes kijkt ze toe hoe het leven wegvaart

Bevroren gras kraakt teder
en een fazant strijkt ruisend neder
en zij staat daar maar aan de rand
het eenzame meisje aan de waterkant

De storm

Wanneer de storm gewaaid heeft
en terug buitenkomt, al wat leeft
in de plassen die de hemel zien
en de jachtige wolken die steeds wederzien
een vibreren en hernieuwen
een ruizen van longen, een zuchten van kieuwen
een energie die nimmer luwt
maar steeds een hart vooruit stuwt

Wanneer de storm gewaaid heeft
en terug drentelt, al wat leeft
in de gebroken takken die de bodem voeden
en de plotse windvlagen die uitbloeden
een sidderen en keren
een tintelen van huid, een schudden van veren
een kracht dat nimmer kan falen
maar steeds een hart doet pralen

Zo dartelen mijn ogen en dromen
wanneer de storm gewaaid heeft
Zo sprankelen de velden en bomen
wanneer ik terug herleef

Enfants de la marche

Nous sommes les enfants de la marche
montagnes du vent s'en roulent, s'impressent
fragilement
Une alouette chante du printemps
la lumière touche notre pas,
la marche conclue

Stadspark beschouwingen

Het is dat ik het even niet weet
waar ik ben, hoe ik weer heet
In het stadspark dichtbij het verkeer
op een bank waar een fietser passeert
Met de zon op mijn rug
denk ik met heimwee terug
aan dingen die ik vergeten was
Een postbode belt, een hond zit vast
in zijn overdenking van de boom
Soms, weet je wel, lijkt dit alles 'n droom
wou ik dat ik wakker werd, zo opeens
tussen deze huizen van mensen en steen

Een schaduw gaat voorbij aan mijn hand
als ik terugdenk aan het groen van 't weiland
waar ik opgegroeid ben, tussen boterbloemen
die het decor kleurden en alles deden verbloemen

In de lommer van een plataan, met brede kroon
zit ik op een bank wijl het leven voorbij pendelt
net als eenieder ander is het uiterlijk vertoon
een kalmte en rust waar iedereen aan voorbij wandelt

Het is dat ik het even niet weet
waar ik ben, hoe ik weer heet
hoe jouw naam klinkt, hoe de wolken bewegen
het zijn vragen die alles bijeen vegen ...

Nature

In the cold of the ocean by the shore
reigns the eternal blue and grey
where the human is but a prey
no longer a vision, nature whims galore

In the cold of the seas by the land
reigns the ethereal song of the seasons
where the human is a stranger to this liaison
no longer in control, nature takes her stand

In the cold of the waters that rush and swirl
reigns the erosion with the anger and calm
where the human looks upon the lines in his palm
bewildered as nature dresses up, surely a proud girl

And in the cold of the sands and the lands
I stood ashore with my wishes and rhymes
Words reminiscent of dangerous and lucky times
seek refuge from the pen in my hands

In the cold of the ocean by the shore
A wild girl with her dreams and glitter in her eyes
seduces a shy boy with the whirl of the skies
Nature keeps reeling me in, more and more ...

Waar de golven tolden

Meeuwen schreeuwen
vergaande eeuwen
in zand vervat
sonoor lied dat
meesleept in getij
wat ooit was
is nu voorbij
bouwsel van glas
wat ooit verworven was
weggeglipt in korven van vlas

Vergeleden besef der dagen
momenten die vervagen
al te snel achterhaald
herinneringen vervaald
Samen versmolten,
waar de golven tolden

Granddad's garage

An imprint,
there on the old stone floor
of my granddad's garage
It tells me of times yonder
a faraway mirage

Cradling the small pup
one cold autumn afternoon
Big projects, lots of wood
nails down and up
on free Wednesday noons

The rusty tools still hang loose
rattling the green door, a scent of tar
A dusty screwdriver forlorn
between the brushes on the old dressoir

Sawdust and those oil drops that never erase
tainting the old tills without frills
muddy paws of the pup,
that now has grown old of age,
litter the ground with my bygone fantasies

My view returns to the plank
and my eyes, for a while blank
glitter in the shape of the work under my hands
I'm back in those childhood lands ...

Calypso

I've got to need a moment
to recover
to recover
to recover times spent alone

Beneath a surface once so smooth
I've got to take up seconds and nanoseconds
to recover
to recover
to recover times spent alone

I've got to meet her once again
got to taste her soft and salt lips again
touch her and feel her shiver
attempting to tempt me again
Oh, I loved her so, my Calypso

Beneath a storm hold and go
her eyes I'm hiding in
like a shell, they kept me safe
on the ocean and widespread waves
on a rush to the horizons of green

I've got to sail once more
got to say her goodbye, at least
at least say her goodbye
a simple kiss and then I can turn away

I've got to take up seconds and nanoseconds
I've got to take up
centuries and moments of you and me
to recover
to recover
to recover times spent alone

Listening to the river

Sounds of silence
dance on the air
a little childhood song
traversed a memory
I let the words
floating by

Underneath a willow
the dawned grass
a trusted pillow
I see the years
running by

At ease, Newtonian laws
hold me on this place
to feel my heart at pace
and all of my faults
just drift away

And the river
the river, my friend
it's on stand-by
let me feel the drops
let me feel the life
of the endless stream
time and distance vanish
listening to the river ...

High above me, His Majesty
does a falcon fly
unleashed the relaxation
done the excavation
it's all meaningless now
the why's, the who's and how come's
they all just passed by

Around the river bend, quietly
the ducks paddle by
A heron wings up to
a profound blue sky
and all of life surrounds the fields
it all slowly, o so slowly crawls by

And the river
the river, my friend
it's on stand-by
let me feel the drops
let me feel the life
of the endless stream
time and distance vanish
listening to the river ...

Windowdrops

A roving longing, out in the brook
and its nervous eddies,
makes itself known
in the shivers of the light

A few hymns from the book
hailing lands no one sees
men and women of some renown
dance with bliss into their night

At the windows I look at the drops flailing
unleashed, keeping to drop without failing

Look at the beautiful land,
under a blanket of clouds, airily she longs
to the sparse rays of winter songs
Dots and stripes of impressionism in my hand

As the land thus sings her lofty sleepy tune
of her fantasies of a feverishly warm June
I with her cast a waking eye in the long sleep
as the year goes into nights so deep ...

Brilliance

There's brilliance on our path
a sunset on the river in gloomy icing
There's the cold at our feet, the heat in the veins
There's a life aside the one you dreamt

There's a fascination and a salvation
easing up memories, dusting the view you had
it's in the future to change a way inside
it's bitter and it's sweet, it's strange

There's brilliance on our path
children grown
we are preparing for the outside world
with the eyes of the one who longs for responsibility

As the worlds flow together, they'll break
into a thousand pieces of the prism
and the thousand colours of childhood play
it lights the sun of grown up ambitions

It's naive but so am I
a little lost and a little found
in a world I knew, didn't, did know
and a fantasy I lived, didn't, did live

Twenty-some have come and gone
this little boy has developed and is now ready to let go
there's a little music, a little silence
but there'll always be brilliance on our path