[the Writing of Kuypers]    [JanetKuypers.com]    [Bio]    [Poems]    [Prose]


video See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers’ poetry feature “Rap Sheet” live at the Cafe Cabaret at Cafe Ballou in Chicago 6/19/15, with the poems each of you carry one body each, uncuffed and printed, Entering Courtroom 101, Vent, and only option is fighting (filmed from a Canon fs200 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).
video See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers’ poetry feature “Rap Sheet” live at the Cafe Cabaret at Cafe Ballou in Chicago 6/19/15, with the poems each of you carry one body each, uncuffed and printed, Entering Courtroom 101, Vent, and only option is fighting (this video was filmed from a Canon PowerShot camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetryshow
Rap Sheet 6/19/15 chapbook
Download these poems in the free chapbook
“Rap Sheet”, w/ poems performed
live 6/19/15 at Cafe Ballou, in the Cafe Cabaret (Chicago)
Rap Sheet Expanded Edition 6/19/15 chapbook
Download these poems in the free chapbook
“Rap Sheet” Expanded Report,

with long versions of poems (and a bonus poem) in her “Rap Sheet” show 6/19/15 at Cafe Ballou, in the Cafe Cabaret (Chicago)
video Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers, reading from the v202 12/22 Down in the Dirt issue/book “The Cool Cold”, her poem “It Really Is All About Choice” (that are also slated to appear in the CyberWit.net 2023 Janet Kuypers poetry book “Testament”), then her Twitter Verse Periodic Table poem “Aluminum Becomes Priceless” (that also appears in the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Twitter Verse Periodic Table Poetry”), then her poem “uncuffed and printed” (that was performed in her 6/19/15 Chicago poetry feature “Rap Sheet”) during her “Poetic License 12/4/22 global open mic” she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). video This video was also filmed and streamed from a Samsung S9 camera, and posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperswomensrights #janetkuypersshatteringtheglassceiling #janetkuyperstwitterverseperiodictablepoem #janetkuyperspoeticlicense
video Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “uncuffed and printed”, “Value from Nothingness”, and “Utopia Planitia, Titan and the Kuiper Belt” from the book “The Paths Less Traveled” for the 4/5/23 ‘Community Poetry’ honorary book reading (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, video & Tumblr) This was also a Facebook live video stream, filmed & streamed from a Samsung S9 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, & Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading

uncuffed and printed

Janet Kuypers
started 4/13/15, finished 4/13/15, streamlined for 6/20/15 show 5/18/15

When I was arrested
they put handcuffs
(a little too tight)
around my wrists,
behind my back.

They put me
in the back
of their squad car,
took me to
their headquarters,

a little building
you can only get to
through the off ramp
of the expressway.

They sat me down,
uncuffed one hand,
cuffed the other
to the bench.

Tried to charm them,
so I might
get off easy.

I tried to be pleasant,
and I must have
sweet talked them,
I didn’t go to jail —

but not before
they uncuffed me
from the bench

and led me
to the large ink pad.
“Now, we’ll move your fingers,

don’t try to help,”
they’ll say,
so you do as they say

and they seem
quite pleased
by taking your prints
to add to their
permanent
government records.

Lucky you.
you’re a part
of the system now.

#

After a cop
drops you off
at your place

wave to them,
be courteous and smile,
then close that door
and lock yourself in.

Now you’re alone,
you’re left with your thoughts.

It’s a frightening thought,
it’s a frightening feeling
when you’ve always thought

that it won’t happen to you,
and getting caught
was never an option.

You never want
to scrub your skin
of fingerprint ink

(out, out damned spots,
out damned evidence
that you are now trapped
in their damned system).

It might seem like a relief
when you’re finally uncuffed,
but you’re not.

You’re a part
of their system now,
even if, after they’ve
taken your prints,
they let you out
into the world again.

Now,
how does it feel
to be free.



uncuffed and printed

Janet Kuypers
full version, started 4/13/15, finished 4/13/15

When I was arrested
they put handcuffs
(a little too tight)
around my wrists,
behind my back.

They put me
in the back
of their squad car,
took me to
their headquarters,

a little building
you can only get to
through the off ramp
of the expressway.

They sat me down,
uncuffed one hand,
cuffed the other
to the bench.

Tried to charm them,
so I might
get off easy.

They tried to pronounce
my last name,
so I mentioned astronomy:

“Pluto’s no longer
a planet,
but an icy ball

from the Kuiper Belt...”
Well, of course
they didn’t know astronomy,

so I tried to be pleasant,
bring up astronomy
to entertain the laymen:

“Did you know
the Moon’s orbit
gets one inch farther

away from the Earth
every year?
So if you thought

the moon looked bigger
when you were little,
well, you may have been right.”

They liked that.

I must have
sweet talked them,
I didn’t go to jail —

but not before
they uncuffed me
from the bench

and led me
to the large ink pad.
“Now, we’ll move your fingers,

don’t try to help,”
they’ll say,
so you do as they say

and they seem
quite pleased
by taking your prints

to add to their
permanent
government records.

Lucky you.
you’re a part
of the system now.

#

At the last finger,
the cop rolled
and smeared,

made a mention
that something went wrong.
“That’s all on you,”

you couldn’t help
but say,
but the cop’s still pleased.

“Nah, the print
turned out fine,”
the balding cop said.

What a relief.

All I could think
that this cop’s
defective genes
give him the monk look —

maybe he’s a cop
so he’d have a way
to still have a power trip

(yeah yeah yeah,
that’s my inner voice,
I know better,
I’d never say it aloud.
I’d just think it.)

#

After a cop
drops you off
at your place

(after waiting
to make sure
you got in safely
with your key,

wave to them,
be courteous and smile,
then turn to go
into your place,
alone)...

After you walk
inside, alone,
you’re left with your thoughts.

It’s a frightening thought,
it’s a frightening feeling
when you’ve always thought

that it won’t happen to you,
and getting caught
was never an option.

You never want
to scrub your skin
of fingerprint ink

(out, out damned spots,
out damned evidence
that you are now trapped
in their damned system).

It might seem like a relief
when you’re finally uncuffed,
but you’re not.

You’re a part
of their system now,
even if, after they’ve
taken your prints,
they let you out
into the world again.

Now,
how does it feel
to be free.


Copyright © Janet Kuypers.

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


Like Janet Kuypers’ writing on any of these links below:

Add to Twitter    Add to Facebook    Add to digg    Add to Del.icio.us    Add to Google Bookmarks    Add to Mister Wong    Add to reddit    Add to Stumble Upon    Add to Technorati






my hand to an anim of jkchair



Kuypers at Artvilla


scars publications


Kuypers writing