POETRY
Poems about anything and everything
Wiesenglück
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Lie in the grass with me
and look up at the sky.
Let your hands feel the softness.
Stretch out and feel free.
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See the cloud right above?
It is looking at you.
It is thinking, what a tiny person.
What a silly little thing.
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Lying around in the grass.
The cloud will move on.
It will travel and then merge
with a big cloud.
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On your right is a tiny daisy.
It looks big to you now
as it’s right next to your face.
It is beautiful.
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Up close all things are
so different.
Full of colour and
vibrancy.
​
Feel the breeze
stroking your hair.
Feel loved and
comforted
​
by nature.
​
​© Vroni Holzmann
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Little Wayside Flower
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A gentle flower, frail and small
had thoughts on life itself and all.
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It thought, oh just imagine if
I could just walk, what would I give.
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It also thought, oh bloody hell
if I could swim, that would be swell.
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And yes, the most amazing sight
would be if I had hands to write
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so all the clever thoughts I made
would not just float away and fade.
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This flower by the path was there
until a sheep that didn’t care
​
just ate it up, which sadly meant
its little soul away just went.
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The world just never got to see
this little thing, it ceased to be.
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But tiny as it was, and jaded
It knew it lived before it faded.
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© Vroni Holzmann
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Silent Sigh
This is how you can slow down
your breathing
and relax
body and mind.
I have been given this
wonderful advice
by Donna Farhi.
Thank you.
Make sure you sit
comfortably.
No, not just for this exercise.
Always.
Breathe in through your nose
as normally.
For breathing out
you purse your lips
and release the air
like a silent sigh.
You make no sound
but you can hear
the vibration in the air.
If a candle was in front of you
it would not go out
says Donna.
It would maybe flicker.
You can do this ten times
and you will realise
that you have calmed down.
Your nervous system
is so grateful for this break
and your lungs are
filling and releasing
slowly.
Silently.
Sighing
and releasing.
Enjoy this little exercise.
You deserve a calm moment
in your busy life.
A minute of peace.
​
© Vroni Holzmann
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Poetry
A little story
builds inside
your head.
Now you have to
get it down
quick.
Scramble for pen and paper.
Catch those fluttering
thoughts
before they escape.
They don’t care
where you are.
You’ve just woken
in the dark?
You’re on a busy bus?
This epiphany
couldn’t care less.
It will only exist
for a few minutes.
If that.
A lovely new phrase
may only exist for seconds.
A new fleeting friend.
Take down the words now
or you’ll never see them again.
But If you manage to
put them to paper.
They’ll be there for you
forever.
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© Vroni Holzmann
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Life
Life is a deadline
What haven’t you done yet?
Quick, do it now.
And then there sits a man
with all the time in the world.
He just sits there.
But you need to go and
shop and cook and clean
and work and go to work
and work from home.
And prepare for work
and then this job isn’t good enough.
Now you have a job interview
and then you are scared, did I get it?
Yes! You got the job.
Now you get more money.
And you have to work
and to clean and to shop.
You don’t cook anymore
you get a ready meal.
Yum!
And you rush past this man,
he just sits there.
Can he do that?
Just sit there?
It reminds you of a life
when rushing around
was not filling up
a hundred percent
of your time.
He sits there
and sometimes he looks grumpy
and other times he smiles.
Can you have good and bad days
when you just sit there?
Days you like and days you hate?
Shouldn’t that be about
what you have achieved
that day?
What does he achieve?
Is he a symbol?
A reminder for the rest of the world?
Why does he just sit there?
Does it mean that I could just sit there?
But what about my work?
I am so important! Yes, I am.
I lead a team.
I tell them what to do.
Without me, with me just
sitting on a bench,
what would my team do?
They can’t all just
sit on a bench.
There wouldn’t be enough benches.
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© Vroni Holzmann
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Cooking
The tricky thing
about food
is not the cooking
but to make it
so it’s ready
at the same time.
I can prepare the most
amazing and delicious
five-course meal for you.
Not a problem at all.
Give me several days,
And I’ll have bits and bobs
ready to eat
every once in a while
for you to enjoy.
Yum.
What?
You want to eat it all
at the same time?!?
You will need to find
another house
with another cook
in it.
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© Vroni Holzmann
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Three Tiny Daisies
Today
I came home
with three daisies.
I picked them
after sitting in the grass
reading a book.
When I came home
I wanted to put the wee flowers
in a little vase.
I searched but I couldn’t find
a single vase
that was miniscule enough
for these tiny flowers.
Even a schnapps glass
was too big.
My little flowers
drowned in it
as if in an ocean.
I quickly
fished them
back out.
Drowned little daisies
is something I would regret
for a long time.
They looked a little sad
but they will be okay
I hope.
Tomorrow first thing
I’ll go and buy a vase
small enough
for tiny flowers.
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© Vroni Holzmann
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* Note by the editor: true story : )
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What do you want?
What do you want?
Honestly.
Tell me.
Is it love?
Is it friendship?
Is it a house?
Is it a job?
Is it a pet?
Is it money?
Is it nice food?
Is it good entertainment?
Is it purpose?
Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
I know what you want.
I know what your
end dream is.
I know what would
rock your boat
from here to eternity.
You want companionship.
You want someone to walk with you.
Someone to walk a part of life with you.
And this is all you want.
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© Vroni Holzmann
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Floating on the Floor
What is it
with all that
yoga wisdom?
Corpse pose?
Really?
That’s not nice.
So I’ve renamed it.
It now has
a lovely name.
Floating on
the floor.
Yes, that’s nice.
And so relaxing.
If you don’t
have time
for yoga
just do
one thing,
one little trick.
Lie down on the floor.
Close your eyes.
Imagine you are
floating.
Do it now.
You will feel
better than
you have felt all day.
Your worries will
just fade away.
Your consciousness
will submerge
somewhere
under the floorboards
and your subconscious will
shine through the cracks.
You will feel
like it all doesn’t matter.
Just for that moment
you can feel
so amazing
and reflect
on nothing
at all.
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© Vroni Holzmann
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The Roaring Birds
My head, I think it is about
to split in two, the pain!
I double over, I feel sick,
the throbbing is insane!
A roaring noise is killing me
it’s coming from out there
the birds are shrieking mercilessly
it’s clear they do not care!
They’re not my only enemy,
now sunlight’s on attack!
Some rays can make it through to me
and shatter me to fuck.
The beer, the wine, the rum, the schnapps,
who gave me all that gin?
It’s all a hazy memory.
I pay now for my sin.
I swear I’ll never drink again
but please, oh birds, your cries
they penetrate my brain so fierce,
I whimper little sighs.
I hate those screaming birds so much
they mock me with their song.
Whoever called them feathery friends
was clearly very wrong.
They’re nasty little shrieky things
I can’t forgive them yet.
Add insult to my injury!
You teach me much regret!
​
Oh alcohol, you nasty beast,
hear what I have to say.
You will not pass my lips again!
Not ever for today!
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© Vroni Holzmann
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* Note by the editor on 18/8/2020: Today is Bad Poetry Day 🙂
In honour of this beautiful occasion I put pen to paper and wrote a poem slagging off birds for singing. It had to be done and this was my best chance. I hate them birds when I'm hungover.
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Amateur
I don’t understand
the word amateur.
Is it to do with money
that’s not changing hands
or skills
that aren’t honed?
Does it mean
if someone is amazing
at a particular thing,
but doesn’t get paid,
that he’s just a fucking amateur?
Or does it describe
the person who is
shit at a task,
paid or not?
Let’s say I’m a paramedic
and I get called to an emergency
and I get paid for that
after years of medical training.
So let’s say I inject the wrong drug
into the artery instead of the vein
and let’s say that person then
shuffles off this mortal coil.
Do they think,
just before they go,
fucking amateur!
Is this their last thought?
Or do they think,
she works as a paramedic and gets paid,
so she can’t be an amateur.
She’s clearly a professional
but obviously,
at least where it concerns me,
totally shit at her job!
Is this what they think???
Can someone explain this to me?
Please?!?
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© Vroni Holzmann
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Who we meet
People come and go in your life.
They will show up
within the frame of your whole existence.
Sometimes expected.
Sometimes unexpected.
They give you joy
or comfort
or entertainment
or offer you their skills
or share their shelter
or food.
They give you love.
They give you hate.
Sometimes they give you love and hate
at once.
They disappear
sometimes expected
sometimes unexpected
without trace
or with a huge track
that’s really easy to follow
and you can find them again.
What do you find?
Some disappear for ever.
Sometimes this hurts you
sometimes it doesn’t.
Some people give you
the most valuable gift of them all.
Their time.
They care for you
they are there for you.
You may appreciate this
or not even notice it.
You may worry about
all these things
but you can’t change them.
People will do this
with or without your consent.
But here’s the thing.
You are one of these people, too.
Disappearing and appearing
in other people’s lives.
And you can’t get it right.
but you can’t get it wrong, either.
Life will have its way
of eating you up
and spitting you out.
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© Vroni Holzmann
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The Bookshop
I went to a bookshop.
Cosy, lovely, affectionate bookshop.
I ran home with my book.
Once in my room I opened it.
The words swirled all around me
they took me on a journey.
Letters filled my head
and showed me a different world.
A travel from bookshop to fantasy.
And then dinner.
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© Vroni Holzmann
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* Note by the editor: On 3/10/2020 I realised it was Bookshop Day.
For this occasion I wrote this little poem and why not.
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Mr Bier
Mr Bier!
Will you fix my feet?
My name is Ilse
and my feet hold me up.
And they carry me around.
I can even dance on them a little.
Mr Bier!
You are so easy-going,
you don’t even mind
how you take your tea.
Lots of milk,
no milk,
you don’t mind.
You really don’t mind?
But we all mind!
You say:
I’ll have it the way
you have it, thanks.
That’s lovely.
Mr Bier!
Why do you know so much about life?
Why do you respect old ladies
with their sore feet?
Postscript:
Which tea, Mr. Bier?
Any tea, you say.
Any tea is fine.
That’s insane!
Mr Bier!
My feet!!!
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© Vroni Holzmann
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* Note by the editor: My mum and her chiropodist get on very well. He is great at fixing feet and has the best name in the business.
Cleaning Lady
Have you ever
thought about
the cleaning lady?
Do you know
that the cleaning lady
is as important as you?
Do you think it is a
charitable act
to think about
the cleaning lady?
Those considered
the lowest jobs
are actually
so crucial.
No-one deserves
more respect
than those who deal
with your rubbish,
clean your house or work space,
and your stinky toilet.
You feel good about yourself
because someone
is keeping your life
nice and clean.
Fuck you
for never
thinking about them.
For taking them for granted
and thinking it is
in any way justified
that you don’t bend down
and wipe your toilet seat
and then kneel
to get behind the toilet
where a bit of fluff
has collected sneakily
in the corner.
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© Vroni Holzmann
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Gardening
The sun is shining,
there’s a gentle breeze,
I’m gonna do some gardening.
I hate gardening!
But not today!
Why hate it?
It’s so much work.
I have to get all the stuff out.
Then I have to plug the lawnmower in.
For this I have to find three extensions
and lead them out of the kitchen window.
What a hassle!
And my secateurs are blunt!
And my rake is missing.
Wait! I never had a rake.
I just think, every single time,
that I need to get a rake.
But I never get one.
I don’t really
deal with my garden much.
But I like to look at it
from my kitchen window.
Not today!
Today it’s all
plug in and mow and
prune and make wonderful.
Hurray!
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© Vroni Holzmann
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European Radio
I have introduced
German radio
to my kitchen.
Now my daughter feels
like she’s on
holiday.
I bought this little
internet radio
and set up
two Bavarian stations.
The same stations
that we listen to
when we’re in Germany
visiting Nana.
There’s no more visiting Nana
since a little virus
has made a big show
of terrorising people.
It really is a very small thing,
a tiny terrorist.
It kills people
and maims them.
What an arsehole.
Anyways, the radio.
It plays the songs
they consider hip
right now over there.
A lot of eighties stuff
and some Ed Sheeran and Adele.
They are so popular!
But I don’t really dig
their yodelling.
However, I do love
New German Wave.
They tell us the news
on the hour.
And after the news
the weather forecast.
It is generally more accurate
than the Scottish one.
But sadly for the wrong country.
I sometimes forget about this
and look out of the window puzzled.
Then I remember; thunderstorms in Bavaria
and sunshine in Scotland.
My little radio
brings Europe
so close.
My daughter feels
like it’s a holiday
when she hears their jingles.
Well-known and familiar sounds
from our travels
to see Nana.
Who is now so far away.
With a tiny virus
between us.
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© Vroni Holzmann
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Praying
Why do people pray?
I think they pray
to make themselves small
in a good way.
They turn themselves
into children
looking for guidance.
And they practise
to be humble
every day.
Praying is a
meditation
on our place
in life.
The aim is
to make yourself
less important
and listen
to a higher
power.
We ask that power
to take over
and a huge
weight
is lifted from
our shoulders.
It is a shame
that I can’t pray.
It just never worked
for me.
I am not
humble enough.
And also,
I can’t believe,
even for five minutes,
that there is a
higher power
out there.
For me,
it’s just little me,
and wagon loads of people
in this world.
But no gods
or spirits
to ask for advice
and pray to.
I am a little
sad
about that.
But it’s fine.
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© Vroni Holzmann
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Super Hero
The time has come.
You are the greatest!
You always knew this,
deep in your heart.
But now you can prove
once and for all
how important and clever
you really are.
Today I will make you
a super hero.
You can actually
save lives! Hurray!!!
An evil virus is threatening
the whole world!
But you will keep them all
safe!
You will make sure
not to spread it
and you will,
for once in your life,
be a real super hero!
Yes!!! You did it!
To save a life
you adhere to the rules
that you know will prevent
the spread of the enemy!
You ignore the authorities
and make sure the disease
doesn’t scatter itself around
on your watch!
Do what all the super heroes do
in this kind of situation.
Stay home.
Wash hands.
Wear masks (for real,
like a super hero!).
Now you have saved a granny
from certain death!!
You have proven that
the super powers
you knew you had
(but it was a secret)
could turn you into
Social-Distance Super Hero!
Yes, there may be some other heroes, too.
Okay, roughly several million,
but you have still saved that granny!
No-one can take that away from you.
And I will give you a medal
for your bravery.
Months of staying in
and wearing masks to shops
and not even meeting friends
is not for the fainthearted.
Your courage in defending
the vulnerable from
the spread of the disease
deserves the Medal
of Services to Society!
And a big thank you
from the whole world.
You did great!
I am so proud of you.
So proud.
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© Vroni Holzmann
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The Highest Statue
A friend from Grenada
once said to me
as we were driving by
St Andrew Square in Edinburgh.
Did you know, she said,
what this man up there did,
up high above,
can you see him?
I said, well, he’s really far away,
he’s so high above,
how high is this statue?
Was he a god?
She continued, he was
a very bad man,
he fought for slavery
for a very long time.
I said, for slavery, not against?
She explained:
He single-handedly
inserted a clause
to delay the abolition
of slavery.
He managed to
suppress their fight
for another ten years!
I thought, wow, ten years,
that’s a long time
for slavery
to needlessly continue.
How sad, I thought.
This statue should
come down,
is what I thought
that day.
And every day since.
But now, at last,
the heads of statues
begin to roll.
The statues being
smashed and toppled.
The bad men
have their day
in the high court of
humanity
and are found guilty
of terrible assaults
on human rights.
But today I also
found out to my
sorrow
that the slaves
waiting for their freedom
were so many.
Over sixty thousand souls
were not freed
for another decade.
And the statue
this damn statue
sits so high,
so very high!
Forty two meters
is how high this man
got to sit
above all people.
Take him down
and see him for
who he really was.
He was a bad man
his crimes judged
late, too late.
But better now than never
to get rid of the stench
of good old-fashioned
racist horrors.
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© Vroni Holzmann
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Shitty Britain
In Great Britain
which is now called
Shitty Britain
we have entered
the most dangerous phase.
Infections are rising
yet a murderous government
is easing restrictions.
My advice: stay home.
Go out only when you have to.
Don’t meet anyone,
wear a mask
and keep a distance.
The government is choosing
not to save lives.
But you and me
can really make a difference
by following the
guidance of other countries
who are ahead of us
in the timeline.
A no-brains government
just means you have to
look at the numbers and
use your own brain.
Good luck!
​
© Vroni Holzmann
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* Note by the editor: the British government has decided to ease pandemic restrictions without the introduction of mandatory masks whilst death rates are at 173 Covid victims daily and infection rates are rising, (June 20 2020)
Source: Covid 19 Info Live
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A Criminal Government
What is up
with the
British press?
Our government
are a bunch of
murderers.
We all
know that
by now.
By not listening to the
scientific advice
provenly given to them
and not taking
the pandemic measures
to keep citizens safe
at the
appropriate
time
they are
responsible
for the death
of many thousands
of our valued
fellow citizens.
Why are they
still governing?
Why is the press
not challenging them?
And why are they able
to distract from
these murderous facts?
Why is this
not front page news
until they are
made to
go?
Prime Minister,
we can see the news
about other countries
​
and their successes
in containing the virus.
They usually wear masks.
They made clear rules
and supplied sufficient protective equipment
to their doctors and nurses.
You and your government
have killed your own people
on this island.
Take your
terrible politics
and go home.
The position
will go to
a responsible
and less murderous
soul
with the people’s interests
at heart
regardless of
their gain.
You work for
the money
not for
the people.
The people are now
dead or in despair.
Talking about slavery crimes?
A modern day genocide
is unfolding
right here!
But don’t think
no-one noticed
your crime.
I will judge you
now
and history
will judge you
forever.
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© Vroni Holzmann
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* Note by the editor: this poem is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons, living
or dead, is purely coincidental. So don’t sue me for calling them murderers : (
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Trans Woman
I am what is now termed as
a white hetero cis woman.
So I have not much
to do with you.
I don’t often meet you.
When I do I am pleased
to see the wonderful progress
which has been made
transforming an unhappy gender
into another gender
where the skin seems to fit
and the heart feels healed.
But I can see a river of hate
flow towards you
and I am sorry
so sorry.
I cannot with my little brain
come up with a single reason
as to why some fellow humans
would feel so passionate about
destroying your femininity
and your livelyhood.
One thing I do know
is that they are not radical feminists
​
as they so proudly claim.
In fact they abuse the term feminist
and drag it down
to a hate speech level.
I would like to apologise to you
on behalf of these haters.
Please don’t listen to them.
We shall fight their abuse together.
My apology won’t give you back
the dignity they try to take from you
but the dignity is already yours
and you elevate
far, far above
those who do not
understand you.
Respect.
Keep fighting.
And much love
from a feminist
who appreciates human rights
for all humans
and always.
© Vroni Holzmann
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Race is a Construct
I bring forward the case
in the high court of humanity.
The people are on trial
and the crime is racism.
It’s a criminal matter
as there seems certainly no
tiny bit of civil conduct
to be seen anywhere.
We begin.
Quiet in the audience!
First and only
proposition.
The human
likes to judge.
The judgement
of the human
comes first and foremost
from the eyes.
Ears and nose
have committed no crime
and shall be excused
at this point.
The mind of the human
will get an impression
and form an opinion
within a split second.
This matter will be settled
very easily and without doubt.
I see a colour of skin
and my mind is made up
as to what kind of person
I have in front of me.
Objection!
The truth is that
the colour of skin
actually tells me nothing,
and I repeat nothing,
about the person
I have just met.
Can you now please repeat
after me?
I know nothing,
and that means zero,
about the human
in front of me
depending on the
colour of their skin.
The person’s work uniform
can tell me more
about who they are
than their complexion.
But even this can be
so very deceiving
because in our minds
and in our eyes
when we see certain
work uniforms,
let’s say those
of the law enforcement,
we think they are here
to help us.
At least if the colour
of our skin is white.
If the colour
of our skin is black
they’re suddenly here
to kill us?
How can this be?
It’s all about judgement.
The eyes have been
naughtily judging
what the mind
couldn’t know.
You are now
dismissed from this court.
Your homework for tonight
is to repeat a thousand times,
‘The colour of skin
tells me nothing about a person;
my eyes won’t judge
and my mind is open’.
Then keep repeating
‘my mind is open’
until you
fall asleep.
You now rest with
a good and clear
conscience because
race is a construct.
There is one race,
and one race only
which is referred to as
the human race.
The judge is now tired
Why have to explain this?
It’s so simple and logical.
Why has it been
so misconstrued?
It has to do with power.
Where there’s fear
there is power.
But please don’t fall for
those powerful people
as they screw
with your mind.
Now the day is over
and another day will begin.
This day will be better
and full of
hope.
​
© Vroni Holzmann
​
​
Toppling Statues
You are not sure if
statues of bad men
should be toppled?
Why do I say men?
What, no women?
There is one of your reasons!
The statues of bad men
should have come down
a long time ago.
They stand for,
I’ll just say this bad word,
the evil one, out loud.
Colonisation.
And you can’t,
however hard you try,
make this a good word.
It has done bad deeds
for many centuries.
It is the essence
of racism.
The history books
never taught
British kids
just how bad
these deeds were,
full of genocides.
Topple the statues?
Topple the Royals!
Topple the Edinburgh Tattoo!
A yearly event
where the military
glorify the military and
the Empire!
Off with their heads!
Is what the bloody Queen would have shouted.
But I don’t even want murder.
Just a few statues
and a few embedded aristocracies
gone.
​
© Vroni Holzmann
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I still stay home
Tens of thousands have died.
Thousands are ill.
Hundreds are still dying.
I don’t want to sunbathe.
I don’t want a beer in the park.
And I don’t want to meet a group of friends
from another household.
I want to rest assured in the knowledge
that my government is sensible
and takes the measures to ensure
a second wave will be coped with
and avoided if possible.
I want to see my mum
and hold my grandchild,
but in a safe way.
So not yet,
not yet.
I want to rest assured that vulnerable,
fragile citizens with pre-existing conditions
are taken care of
in the best possible way.
I would like my government to listen
to the concerns of its people.
And I don’t want to come out
until its safe.
I don’t think it’s safe
to come out yet.
So I still stay home.
​
© Vroni Holzmann
​
​
Corona Crisis
These are the words
that have been
branded
into everyone’s
brain
during the weeks
of the pandemic.
Social Isolation.
Quarantine.
Stay at Home!
But this applies
only
to the lucky ones.
This crisis might
as well be called
“The Great Global Dying”.
So here is
what I don’t understand.
Why would anyone
be concerned about
how to spend this time?
Are we restricted?
We are alive, aren’t we?
A few months.
That’s all it is.
This illness is not a flu.
Stop thinking that.
It is a lethal virus.
It can shut down your organs,
one by one.
​
They can hook you up
to machines,
the kidneys,
the heart.
But there comes a limit.
There comes a time
when a mother, a father,
a husband, a wife,
just can’t be saved
any more.
Hang on, organs? Yes,
that’s if you
didn’t suffocate yet.
Your lungs drowning
in fluid.
You are coughing and coughing,
there is no light
at the end of this tunnel.
I wish every human
around
the globe
that they don’t
catch this
deadly virus.
So be content
to stay at home.
​
Stay there and
be happy.
You are
the lucky one.
​
© Vroni Holzmann