(bilingual poem)

It was a five star affair
Vijf sterren
Every meeting moment
Uniek and unrepeatable - just like a ritual
Spend tijd with others
Wij waren bijna lovers
Half-English, Half NL
(voor anderstaligen)
So many stories
And zo veel mensen die huisjes zijn:
thuizen
Helaas, it’s six - no, 8
And you both have
The same watch
On your wrist,
Proficiat!
Het eens is.
We sat and we agreed
To bottle up seven sweet/salty
Feelings
Warmte om te bewaren
Mss afkoelen?
Mss wat delen.

It’s autumn now.
Sol invictus! a.k.a. losing sun
A game for you to play
Actieve leren kennen
Or learning to unlearn
Ontlerenkennen
Als we niet praten kunnen
Spellen we veel met elkaar
Leren we veel eruit elkaar
Eight ofzo blind dates
Kunstbaar ménage a trois
Dadels and deathbeds
Couple of ritual green teas
But one can never echt
Draw out the circle fully;
Transnational exchanges
On national spoorwegen
D’as niet zo wabi-sabi.
Rather a ghost than host,
Helaas
We partied like varken, pigfaced,
And I was late, jaja
Both love and work
Are bond and bondage
Built on mistakes en fautjes
Don’t lust for marble
Lekker tof!
And mixed in wraps — fried tofu
Ordered on Burnout Lane
Ik ken jij niet
Maar wij zijn beiden vrij!
Imagine: a room in livid red
And drums and drums and drums
And men
Being both spectator and star
In our gezellig life — on Instagram
The drumming must go on!
Late harvest, early spring
Wij sjansen met de maan
If we are lucky
We won’t end up In Tranendal
with breadsticks in our hands
Where was my invite?

Making up words
To stop the wash of time
Totaal gezamelheid
Four fingers in my KONT
03 ‘T is summer weer
Slow dates around the circle of my hart
Heartburn, sunburn and fire hearth
Three is the number of my peace
Two of us never met;
Geen commentaar
No, I don’t smoke
But sometimes
I understand why
People smoke, She said
Just one
Just one
Just one
0-800-032019
Contact your local shaman!
& Don’t forget:
The more we know
The less we are inclined to love
The duivel’s in the details
In any land,
Whatever way,
In any language
In any other taal

Yet there’s still hope;
The font is Simple
Een brug towards the other
Some speak it rustig, others loud
Some crash and burn, and others howl.

We met online, then offline.
It started with a tekst
Letters from the undead
The numbers drie
And eight
In Antwerp, by the docks
Lest wij forget.

The proof is in your hands

• Below the hands of Ignace Cami + Marie Lexmon, Michel Decré, Oscar Hugal, Mostafa Benkerroum + Pascale Theron, Athar Jaber, Muriel Fraenk, Griet Menschaert, John Rausenberger, Chloé Dyckmans, Remko Leeuw, Sigrid Exelmans, Arnoud Rigter, Manon Vosters, Lotje Linssen, Maika Garnica (in order of appearance). These "portraits" of artists and makers were commissioned for issue three of KONT, a yearly art publication which this year focussed on rituals. Made between Eindhoven and Antwerp, it was curated by Griet Menschaert and Bart van Dijck and designed by me. You should order it HERE.