Thursday, December 18, 2003
The man in the mirror
Paying a tribute
Ever since my father passed away on April 29th 2000, I have been wanting to pay some kind of tribute, preferably in the form of a poem. It actually took me three years and a lot of paper to do so. I guess you have to kind of already worked through a lot of the grieve before you can really pay tribute the a lost loved one.
Well here it is:
The man in the mirror
(dedicated to my father Hidde de Haan, 1948 - 2000)
I can see your eyes
looking at myself through mine
and I can hear your voice
saying everything'll be fine
I also see your smile
always smiling back at me
and that childlike sparkle in your eyes
I got that too, now can't you see?
That I'm alike my father
in almost every way
a gift I daily treasure
cause now I can truly say
That I don't have to miss you
even though you've passed away
You are the man in my mirror
and there you'll always stay
I love you
always
Amsterdam, October 2003
Ever since my father passed away on April 29th 2000, I have been wanting to pay some kind of tribute, preferably in the form of a poem. It actually took me three years and a lot of paper to do so. I guess you have to kind of already worked through a lot of the grieve before you can really pay tribute the a lost loved one.
Well here it is:
(dedicated to my father Hidde de Haan, 1948 - 2000)
I can see your eyes
looking at myself through mine
and I can hear your voice
saying everything'll be fine
I also see your smile
always smiling back at me
and that childlike sparkle in your eyes
I got that too, now can't you see?
That I'm alike my father
in almost every way
a gift I daily treasure
cause now I can truly say
That I don't have to miss you
even though you've passed away
You are the man in my mirror
and there you'll always stay
I love you
always
Amsterdam, October 2003
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
Estrangement
Just another poem
I wrote this one for a class called Creative Writing in English
Estrangement
Being bound by an aching loneliness
Forgetting what this was once all about
Can’t recall when being in love was painless
Maybe thou canst hear me crying out loud
Gentle, caring words no longer find their way
All the loving warmth I once felt astray
Thy tender smile has since long cast away
Feeling this alone, I’m feeling betray’d
Art thou aware that there’s no longer we?
Art thou aware that this abyss divides us?
Dost thou even care being no part of me?
I can see the end of us coming, ‘cause
Don’t even know if I longer love thee
Just as thou hast already forgotten me
Amsterdam, 13 October 1998
I wrote this one for a class called Creative Writing in English
Being bound by an aching loneliness
Forgetting what this was once all about
Can’t recall when being in love was painless
Maybe thou canst hear me crying out loud
Gentle, caring words no longer find their way
All the loving warmth I once felt astray
Thy tender smile has since long cast away
Feeling this alone, I’m feeling betray’d
Art thou aware that there’s no longer we?
Art thou aware that this abyss divides us?
Dost thou even care being no part of me?
I can see the end of us coming, ‘cause
Don’t even know if I longer love thee
Just as thou hast already forgotten me
Monday, December 15, 2003
Totally Like Whatever
there's this teacher that's also a poet and to me a very good one. So as some kind of teaser, here's one of his and if you like it, go and visit his webpage!
Totally like whatever, you know?
By Taylor Mali
www.taylormali.com
In case you hadn't noticed,
it has somehow become uncool
to sound like you know what you're talking about?
Or believe strongly in what you're saying?
Invisible question marks and parenthetical (you know?)'s
have been attaching themselves to the ends of our sentences?
Even when those sentences aren't, like, questions? You know?
Declarative sentences - so-called
because they used to, like, DECLARE things to be true
as opposed to other things which were, like, not -
have been infected by a totally hip
and tragically cool interrogative tone? You know?
Like, don't think I'm uncool just because I've noticed this;
this is just like the word on the street, you know?
It's like what I've heard?
I have nothing personally invested in my own opinions, okay?
I'm just inviting you to join me in my uncertainty?
What has happened to our conviction?
Where are the limbs out on which we once walked?
Have they been, like, chopped down
with the rest of the rain forest?
Or do we have, like, nothing to say?
Has society become so, like, totally . . .
I mean absolutely . . . You know?
That we've just gotten to the point where it's just, like . . .
whatever!
And so actually our disarticulation . . . ness
is just a clever sort of . . . thing
to disguise the fact that we've become
the most aggressively inarticulate generation
to come along since . . .
you know, a long, long time ago!
I entreat you, I implore you, I exhort you,
I challenge you: To speak with conviction.
To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks
the determination with which you believe it.
Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker,
it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY.
You have to speak with it, too.
there's this teacher that's also a poet and to me a very good one. So as some kind of teaser, here's one of his and if you like it, go and visit his webpage!
Totally like whatever, you know?
By Taylor Mali
www.taylormali.com
In case you hadn't noticed,
it has somehow become uncool
to sound like you know what you're talking about?
Or believe strongly in what you're saying?
Invisible question marks and parenthetical (you know?)'s
have been attaching themselves to the ends of our sentences?
Even when those sentences aren't, like, questions? You know?
Declarative sentences - so-called
because they used to, like, DECLARE things to be true
as opposed to other things which were, like, not -
have been infected by a totally hip
and tragically cool interrogative tone? You know?
Like, don't think I'm uncool just because I've noticed this;
this is just like the word on the street, you know?
It's like what I've heard?
I have nothing personally invested in my own opinions, okay?
I'm just inviting you to join me in my uncertainty?
What has happened to our conviction?
Where are the limbs out on which we once walked?
Have they been, like, chopped down
with the rest of the rain forest?
Or do we have, like, nothing to say?
Has society become so, like, totally . . .
I mean absolutely . . . You know?
That we've just gotten to the point where it's just, like . . .
whatever!
And so actually our disarticulation . . . ness
is just a clever sort of . . . thing
to disguise the fact that we've become
the most aggressively inarticulate generation
to come along since . . .
you know, a long, long time ago!
I entreat you, I implore you, I exhort you,
I challenge you: To speak with conviction.
To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks
the determination with which you believe it.
Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker,
it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY.
You have to speak with it, too.
Sunday, December 14, 2003
Music
You know how music can touch your soul? Well that happens to me a lot. Sometimes I even can't help it and I must cry without any obvious reason. Just because the sounds touch my soul. It has even happened that the music was so intense and so sincere and so full with real emotion, that I just almost felt hurt by it and cried my eyes out. But afterwards I always feel so much better and so much stronger. It's almost like the music healed my heart and soul a bit. Like it cleans up my inner self. I tried to express this in the following poem:
Soothing Sounds
(ode to music)
While listening to your inner soul
tears come running down my face
you touch me in my deepest self
and take everything out of place
you break my heart in little pieces
and carefully take the bad parts out
you let me grieve without that shame
that others keep shouting to me about
softly you glue my heart back together
making sure it becomes much stronger
then you put it all back into place and
the pain got left outside, so I no longer
feel heavy with the heartbreaking sorrow
that was damaging my heart, before
you soothed and tenderly touched me,
gave me back my heart, all new and restored
You know how music can touch your soul? Well that happens to me a lot. Sometimes I even can't help it and I must cry without any obvious reason. Just because the sounds touch my soul. It has even happened that the music was so intense and so sincere and so full with real emotion, that I just almost felt hurt by it and cried my eyes out. But afterwards I always feel so much better and so much stronger. It's almost like the music healed my heart and soul a bit. Like it cleans up my inner self. I tried to express this in the following poem:
(ode to music)
While listening to your inner soul
tears come running down my face
you touch me in my deepest self
and take everything out of place
you break my heart in little pieces
and carefully take the bad parts out
you let me grieve without that shame
that others keep shouting to me about
softly you glue my heart back together
making sure it becomes much stronger
then you put it all back into place and
the pain got left outside, so I no longer
feel heavy with the heartbreaking sorrow
that was damaging my heart, before
you soothed and tenderly touched me,
gave me back my heart, all new and restored
