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Femke Zwiep: Brilliant

By Femke Zwiep, translated by Laura Vroomen
9 October 2023 2 min. reading time Eureka?

Eighteen young Flemish and Dutch authors have taken inspiration from seventeenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum. Looking at these objects, what eureka moments do they see? Femke Zwiep has written a poem in response to a balance standard with a counterweight from the workshop of Wenzel Jamnitzer. I give value to everything I touch’

Brilliant

the promise and I know each other through and through
I give value to everything I touch

my work is independent/impartial/incorruptible/flawless/professional
I can tell if a facet has been processed
polished
first rough
then radiant

the chorus meanwhile sings a stirring song
that really loves to weave itself through time

in the best story I have written
you have reached your lowest point
I tell it often and I tell it well
so it starts to have a shape

you’re wearing a magnificent suit
bell bottoms, diamantes and lip
everybody hangs on your every word
you sound so wise, believe you me

a thumb pricks a hole in the centre of the earth
sunny-side-up gone wrong
gold streams through the rivers
erodes the landscape
bleeds out dries up turns curse

my movements are vertical
I have nothing to do with the horizon
I work blindfolded

but now and again I imagine the tide, turning, the sea
a piece of fabric folded by two large hands
held up and suspended in the sky

grey-blue firmament reflecting the light so brightly
everybody understands
this is the end, or something a lot like it

I am hoping for a celestial body that’s kept track of the score
and will in turn supersede the sea

sure I aimed for your forehead but didn’t know it would affect you so
sorry if it affects you so

was I steady in my wavering too?

when I rest my arms on the ground everything weighs as much as anything
when I rest my arms on the ground everything weighs as much as anything

Portret Femke Zwiep c Marianne Hommersom

Femke Zwiep

Femke Zwiep (b. 1999) writes poetry about illness, madness, faith and magic. She studied Creative Writing at ArtEZ Arnhem, has performed at festivals including Vers van het Mes and Lowlands and has published her work in DW B, De Internet Gids and Wobby.club. She is an editor at online literary magazine Samplekanon and is currently working on her debut collection.

photo by © Marianne Hommersom

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