MARIAN EIKELHOF

 

MARIAN EIKELHOF

Springtime Blues

 

Oh yes, my lost one,

It has been such a long winter

We had barely enough clothes

to cover up for all the sadness

we felt

all we did was negotiate

with death

wish we could make a deal

please

don’t take him

take me.

 

Hard to see the first blossom tree

through all my tears

hard to smell

the fragrance in the air

filled with grief,

despair.

 

Do you remember..

you and I,

we really got along,

David Bowie,

first ciggy, sneaking into the barn,

hours and hours of badminton.

 

I’ll take you on my shoulders

you are so weak now, so fragile.

 

Never mind,

we will see the first blossom tree

together, you and I,

and at last

it will be finally

springtime.

  

 

Abused

 

Poem against child abuse 

How nice 

feel his hand on my shoulder 

In a theatre of tender gestures

sweet lies

His lovely daughter, 

the pride of his eye 

Yet his words hit me 

vanish the ground under my feet

“Oh you little girl

You're so ugly

make mistakes 

don’t function” 

All those humiliations 

in public,

hidden sarcasm 

broken promises 

in these sleepless nights

let me go

let me die

I am ten years old

I don’t want to live anymore.

 

 

 

This House

 

This house lost a son

behind the layer of paint

so many tears 

This house has no roof anymore

cries out in despair

the next hundreds of years.

 

MARIAN EIKELHOF

 

MARIAN EIKELHOF was born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in the year 1963. She is a poet who works in her daily life as a psychologist. Her work inspires her to write about the emotional aspects of life. Not only she describes in several languages about feelings of love, intimacy and desire, but also, she reflects about states of profound sadness and feelings of emptiness. On the whole she criticizes dehumanisation and an ongoing process of alienation in human relationships. Marian’s poetry book “ a zero hour contract with life” has been translated from Dutch into English and Turkish. For children who are being bullied, she has written the book “Lekker Boeiend!” (“I am not impressed!”) and together with her sister Els Eikelhof she has written the manual “Feel Okay about Yourself” for teachers guiding children with a disability. Her poems have been published by several prestigious magazines and appear in a number of anthologies. Recently Marian has started the Foundation Literary International in which the aim is to facilitate intercultural exchange between countries by introducing each other to each other's different artistic expressions. By internationally joining artistic forces the peace process is promoted in the world building symbolic bridges and forming a network of intellectuals andartists who aim to defend humanity.