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video See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (extreme sestina variation)” live 3/13/13 at the Café Gallery in Chicago (this video was filmed from a Canon camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoem
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of Kuypers reading this poem 3/13/13 at the Café Gallery in Chicago (Watercolor, Canon)
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of Kuypers reading this poem 3/13/13 at the Café Gallery in Chicago (Threshold, Canon)
video See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (extreme sestina variation)” live 3/13/13 at the Café Gallery in Chicago (this video was filmed from a Sony camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoem)
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of Kuypers reading this poem 3/13/13 at the Café Gallery in Chicago (Film Age - older, Sony)
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of Kuypers reading this poem 3/13/13 at the Café Gallery in Chicago (Posterize, Sony)
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of Kuypers hosting the open mic 3/13/13 at the Café Gallery in Chicago, plus her reading this poem
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See YouTube video 2/12/16 of Janet Kuypers reading her poem Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation) at the Poetry Plus open mic at Cianfrani’s on the Square in Georgetown TX (Canon Power Shot).
video See YouTube video 2/12/16 of Janet Kuypers reading her 2 poems The Fourteenth & Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation), and then her 2 poems There I Sit & Writing Your Name as one, at the Poetry Plus open mic at Cianfrani’s on the Square in Georgetown TX (filmed from a Canon Power Shot camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry
video See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers in her 10/7/17 show “in Autumn, Love is in the Air” @ “Expressions Welcomes Autumn!” in Austin, performing her poems “Sepia Leaves”, “Autumn (2017 Dripping Springs/Bahá’í Center edit)”, “Who You Tell Your Dreams To”, “You and Me and Your Girlfriend”, “The Way You Tease Me”, “And I’m Wondering”, “Just by Holding his Hand”, “Marry You in Autumn”, and “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)”, performed with the HA!Man of South Africa’s music “the Ice is Melting” and a rotating art display (this video was filmed from a Sony camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuyperspoetryshow
video See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers in her 10/7/17 show “in Autumn, Love is in the Air” @ “Expressions Welcomes Autumn!” in Austin, performing her poems “Sepia Leaves”, “Autumn (2017 Dripping Springs/Bahá’í Center edit)”, “Who You Tell Your Dreams To”, “You and Me and Your Girlfriend”, “The Way You Tease Me”, “And I’m Wondering”, “Just by Holding his Hand”, “Marry You in Autumn”, and “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)”, with background music from the HA!Man of South Africa’s “the Ice is Melting”, cricket sounds in the background and a random rotating art display (Lumix camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuyperspoetryshow
View the 10/7/17 show poems in the free PDF file chapbook
in Autumn, Love is in the Air chapbook in Autumn, Love is in the Air chapbook in Autumn, Love is in the Air
containing the poems &“Sepia Leaves”, “Autumn (2017 Dripping Springs/Bahá’í Center edit)”, “Who You Tell Your Dreams To”, “You and Me and Your Girlfriend”, “The Way You Tease Me”, “And I’m Wondering”,
Just by Holding his Hand”, “Marry You in Autumn”, and “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)”.
video See YouTube video from 6/6/18 of Janet KuypersJune 2018 Book Release Reading, where she read her Down in the Dirt Jan.-Apr. 2018 issue collection book “At Midnight” poems “rush”, “lost”, and “Only Half the Story”, then two poems from her “Eleven” chapbook, “Under the Sea” and “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (sestina)”, in Community Poetry @ Half Price Books (Panasonic Lumix T56 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading
video See YouTube video from 6/6/18 of Janet KuypersJune 2018 Book Release Reading, where she read her Down in the Dirt Jan.-Apr. 2018 issue collection book “At Midnight” poems “rush”, “lost”, and “Only Half the Story”, then two poems from her “Eleven” chapbook, “Under the Sea” and “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (sestina)”, in Community Poetry @ Half Price Books, PLT56ED.
video See YouTube video from 6/6/18 of Janet KuypersJune 2018 Book Release Reading, where she read her Down in the Dirt Jan.-Apr. 2018 issue collection book “At Midnight” poems “rush”, “lost”, and “Only Half the Story”, then two poems from her “Eleven” chapbook, “Under the Sea” and “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (sestina)”, in Community Poetry @ Half Price Books, PLT56ST.
video See YouTube video from 6/6/18 of Janet KuypersJune 2018 Book Release Reading, where she read her Down in the Dirt Jan.-Apr. 2018 issue collection book “At Midnight” poems “rush”, “lost”, and “Only Half the Story”, then two poems from her “Eleven” chapbook, “Under the Sea” and “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (sestina)”, in Community Poetry @ Half Price Books, PLT56Th.
video See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (extreme sestina variation)” & “Observer’s Love Poem” from her chapbook “Eleven”, and then her eleven-themed new poem “popular and useless” (with a selfie with the audience) live 6/10/18 at “Spoken and Heard” @ Kick Butt Coffee (Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera).
video See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (extreme sestina variation)” & “Observer’s Love Poem” from her chapbook “Eleven”, and then her eleven-themed new poem “popular and useless” (with a selfie with the audience) live 6/10/18 at “Spoken and Heard” @ Kick Butt Coffee (Panasonic Lumix T56 camera).
video See YouTube video of Chicago poet Janet Kuypers in her 6/11/18 poetry show “Eleven” in Austin, with her poems “Under the Sea”, “The Burning”, “Right There, By Your Heart (verses 2 & 6)”, “What We Need in Life”, “Fantastic Car Crash”, “The Things They Did To You (5/8/18 edit)”, “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)”, “Death is a Dog”, and “September 11, 2001” (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500; appearing on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetryshow #janetkuypersfeature
video See YouTube video of Chicago poet Janet Kuypers in her 6/11/18 poetry show “Eleven” in Austin, with her poems “Under the Sea”, “The Burning”, “Right There, By Your Heart (verses 2 & 6)”, “What We Need in Life”, “Fantastic Car Crash”, “The Things They Did To You (5/8/18 edit)”, “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)”, “Death is a Dog”, and “September 11, 2001(this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera, and then it was given an Edge Detection filter).
video See YouTube video of Chicago poet Janet Kuypers in her 6/11/18 poetry show “Eleven” in Austin, with her poems “Under the Sea”, “The Burning”, “Right There, By Your Heart (verses 2 & 6)”, “What We Need in Life”, “Fantastic Car Crash”, “The Things They Did To You (5/8/18 edit)”, “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)”, “Death is a Dog”, and “September 11, 2001(this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera, and then it was given a Hue Cycling filter).
video See YouTube video of Chicago poet Janet Kuypers in her 6/11/18 poetry show “Eleven” in Austin, with her poems “Under the Sea”, “The Burning”, “Right There, By Your Heart (verses 2 & 6)”, “What We Need in Life”, “Fantastic Car Crash”, “The Things They Did To You (5/8/18 edit)”, “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)”, “Death is a Dog”, and “September 11, 2001(this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera, and then it was given a Posterize filter).
video See YouTube video of Chicago poet Janet Kuypers in her 6/11/18 poetry show “Eleven” in Austin, with her poems “Under the Sea”, “The Burning”, “Right There, By Your Heart (verses 2 & 6)”, “What We Need in Life”, “Fantastic Car Crash”, “The Things They Did To You (5/8/18 edit)”, “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)”, “Death is a Dog”, and “September 11, 2001(this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera, and then it was given a Sepia Tone filter).
video See YouTube video of Chicago poet Janet Kuypers in her 6/11/18 poetry show “Eleven” in Austin, with her poems “Under the Sea”, “The Burning”, “Right There, By Your Heart (verses 2 & 6)”, “What We Need in Life”, “Fantastic Car Crash”, “The Things They Did To You (5/8/18 edit)”, “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)”, “Death is a Dog”, and “September 11, 2001(this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera, and then it was given a Threshold filter).
Eleven chapbook Read all of the poems from the Janet Kuypers poetry show in her 6/11/18 poetry chapbook for her show
Eleven chapbookEleven containing her poems “Under the Sea”, “The Burning”, “Right There, By Your Heart (verses 2 & 6)”, “What We Need in Life”, “Fantastic Car Crash”, “The Things They Did To You (5/8/18 edit)”, “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)”, “Death is a Dog”, and “September 11, 2001”, “Ocean’s Call to Dive”, and “Observer’s Love Poem”.
video See YouTube video of Janet KuypersSeptember 2018 Book Release Reading 9/5/18, where she read her “in Autumn, Love is in the Air” poetry “Who You Tell Your Dreams To”, “You and Me and Your Girlfriend”, “The Way You Tease Me”, and “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (extreme sestina variation)” from the cc&d 9-10/18 book “Faces”, in Community Poetry! at Half Price Books (Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera).
video See YouTube video of Janet KuypersSeptember 2018 Book Release Reading 9/5/18, where she read her “in Autumn, Love is in the Air” poetry “Who You Tell Your Dreams To”, “You and Me and Your Girlfriend”, “The Way You Tease Me”, and “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (extreme sestina variation)” from the cc&d 9-10/18 book “Faces”, in Community Poetry! at Half Price Books (Panasonic Lumix T56 camera).
video See YouTube video of Janet KuypersOctober 2018 Book Release Reading 10/3/18, where she read her “in Autumn, Love is in the Air” poetry “Who You Tell Your Dreams To”, “You and Me and Your Girlfriend”, “The Way You Tease Me”, and “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (extreme sestina variation)” from the cc&d 9-10/18 book “Faces”, then her poem “And I’m Wondering” from the Down in the Dirt 9-10/18 book “Spitfire”, during Community Poetry! at Half Price Books (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 ca,era).
video See YouTube video of Janet KuypersOctober 2018 Book Release Reading 10/3/18, where she read her “in Autumn, Love is in the Air” poetry “Who You Tell Your Dreams To”, “You and Me and Your Girlfriend”, “The Way You Tease Me”, and “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (extreme sestina variation)” from the cc&d 9-10/18 book “Faces”, then her poem “And I’m Wondering” from the Down in the Dirt 9-10/18 book “Spitfire”, during Community Poetry! at Half Price Books (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera).
video See YouTube video 12/2/18 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)”, “And I’m Wondering”, & “Just by Holding His Hand”, from the Scars Publications 2018 collections book “Still Life” at “Recycled Reads” (from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).
video See YouTube video 12/2/18 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)”, “And I’m Wondering”, & “Just by Holding His Hand”, from the Scars Publications 2018 collections book “Still Life” at “Recycled Reads” (from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).
video See YouTube video 12/8/18 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “The Way You Tease Me”, “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)”, & “Just by Holding His Hand”, from the Scars Publications 2018 collections book “Still Life” at “Poetry Aloud” (from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).
video See YouTube video 12/8/18 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “The Way You Tease Me”, “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)”, & “Just by Holding His Hand”, from the Scars Publications 2018 collections book “Still Life” at “Poetry Aloud” (from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).
video See YouTube video of Janet KuypersMay 2019 Book Release Reading 5/1/19, where she read her “in Autumn, Love is in the Air” poems “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)”, “Sepia Leaves”, “And I’m Wondering”, “Marry you in Autumn” and “Just by Holding His Hand”, all read from the cc&d September-December 2018 issue and chapbook collection book “This is Where I Live”, during Community Poetry @ Half Price Books (from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperspoetryshow
video See YouTube video of Janet KuypersMay 2019 Book Release Reading 5/1/19, where she read her “in Autumn, Love is in the Air” poems “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)”, “Sepia Leaves”, “And I’m Wondering”, “Marry you in Autumn” and “Just by Holding His Hand”, all read from the cc&d September-December 2018 issue and chapbook collection book “This is Where I Live”, during Community Poetry @ Half Price Books (from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperspoetryshow
video See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Just By Holding His Hand”, “The Way You Tease Me”, “There I Sit”, “And I’m Wondering”, and “Looking for a Worthy Adversary(an extreme sestina variation)” from the cyberwit.net 137-page 5½" x 8½" Janet Kuypers poetry book “Eternal Never Ending Now”, read 4/7/21 during the usual time for Austin’s “Community Poetry” (filmed & streamed from a Samsung S9 camera). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading
video See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Looking for a Worthy Adversary(an extreme sestina variation)” and “Us, Actually Touching” from the cyberwit.net 137-page 5½" x 8½" Janet Kuypers poetry book “Eternal Never Ending Now”, read 4/7/21 during the Chicago “In One Ear” open mic Zoom meeting (this video was filmed and streamed from a Samsung S9 camera). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry
video See a YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her “Just By Holding His Hand”, “The Way You Tease Me”, “There I Sit”, “And I’m Wondering”, and “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)” from the cyberwit.net 137-page 5½" x 8½" Janet Kuypers poetry book “Eternal Never Ending Now”, read 4/7/21 during the usual time for Austin’s “Community Poetry” (video from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).  #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading
video See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Just By Holding His Hand”, “The Way You Tease Me”, “There I Sit”, “And I’m Wondering”, and “Looking for a Worthy Adversary (an extreme sestina variation)” from the cyberwit.net 137-page 5½" x 8½" Janet Kuypers poetry book “Eternal Never Ending Now”, read 4/7/21 during the usual time for Austin’s “Community Poetry” (this video was filmed and streamed from a Samsung S9 camera). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading

Looking for a Worthy Adversary
(an extreme sestina variation)

Janet Kuypers
(original written 1987, edited for 3/13/12 performance 3/12/13)

I’ve been looking for a worthy adversary
someone I can lock horns with —
though my life makes more sense when I’m alone
it’s not nearly as interesting

alone, it’s not nearly as intreesting,
so I look for a worthy adversary
someone I can battle to the death with
because it can’t be about love, you see
love can’t exist on the terms I demand
it’s never that pure

what I demand is never that pure,
as I’m looking for a worthy adversary
I slither up to you like a snake
and I tempt you with a golden apple

I tempt you with that golden apple
but all I’m offering you
is fruit from the tree of knowledge

this snake gives you the tree of knowledge
because all this time I’ve been playing a part
an actress on stage, spouting lines on cue
but that role was tiresome,
those lights came on night after night
and I still had to play my part

I played my part
until my night off, where I saw your show
your protagonist was doing what I was doing
right down to faking it with those who don’t matter
right down to going home and still feeling empty

I play my part, I still feel empty
but I liked to see your boiling emotion underneath
no one else could see

I know what that emotion really means

when I know what that emotion really means
I wonder if we can get together
and write our own play

if we wrote our own play,
it would be a masterful performance
curtains would close,
we’d hold each other’s hands
as we leave the stage
and the audience would know there’s a happy ending

when I know there’s a happy ending
I walk out on to the set
and there you stand, in front, stage left
I wait for my cue to make my move
none of the rest of the scene matters

if the rest of the scene doesn’t really matter,
I wonder if the audience would see what we have...
maybe they’d like our little play,
maybe they wouldn’t
who really cares

who really cares
because after I tempted you
you now tempt me and tease me and torment me
and tell me everything I was afraid to believe

I was afraid to believe
and now you talk,
you reach your hand into my brain
and pull out my thoughts
and shove them into your mouth
and spit them back at me

you spit my thoughts back at me again
and instead of filling me with terror
it fills me with joy

it fills me with joy
because I thought I’d lock horns
with that worthy adversary —
but now every day is like Valentine’s Day,
it’s like candy and flowers and springtime
and hearts and cupids and sunshine

and these cliches are beginning to make sense

no longer locking horns,
and everything making sense,
I stand here like a statue
after the performance of our lifetime
and wait for the reviews

as I wait for the reviews
I wonder what they’ll say
though none of it matters

none of it matters
because I know what you are going to say
it’s everything that I’ve always wanted to say

all I ever wanted to say
is now you, taking my thoughts again
and shoving them into your mouth again
and spitting them back at me again
so I will wait for you to come on stage again
where we have our happy ending
and you tell me what I already know


Copyright © Janet Kuypers.

All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.


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