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

See Facebook live video 6/24/17 of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “Utopia Never Happened” (written on the theme “this never happened” for Poetry Aloud, that she couldn’t attend).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers in her 7/1/17 poetry show “Our Cultural Independence and Achieving Global Freedom” in Austin, with her poems “fader, his mädchen and the Führer”, “of independence or freedom”, “Xerostomia”, and “Utopia never happened” (with background music from Janet’s electric bass and bow, then the HA!Man of South Africa) (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetryshow

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers in her 7/1/17 poetry show “Our Cultural Independence and Achieving Global Freedom” in Austin, with her poems “fader, his mädchen and the Führer”, “of independence or freedom”, “Xerostomia”, and “Utopia never happened” (with background music from Janet’s electric bass and bow, then the HA!Man of South Africa) (this video was filmed from a Sony camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetryshow

Download all of the poems from the free chapbook “Our Cultural Independence and Achieving Global Freedom” of the poems she performed in her 7/1/17 “Our Cultural Independence and Achieving Global Freedom” poetry feature/show, including both classic and new poems “fader, his mädchen and the Führer”, “of independence or freedom”, “Xerostomia”, and “Utopia never happened”.

See YouTube video from 7/8/17 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Military Intelligence, “Big Hair and Fire Don’t Mix” and “Utopia Never Happened” in the “Poetry Aloud” open mic at the Georgetown Public Library (L).

See YouTube video from 7/8/17 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Military Intelligence, “Big Hair and Fire Don’t Mix” and “Utopia Never Happened” in the “Poetry Aloud” open mic at the Georgetown Public Library (S).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Death” and “Signs of the Times” (2 poems read for the future Oeuvre audio CD release) and “Utopia Never Happened” at Austin’s Recycled Reads 7/15/17 (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix camera).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Death” and “Signs of the Times” (2 poems read for the future Oeuvre audio CD release) and “Utopia Never Happened” at Austin’s Recycled Reads 7/15/17 (this video was filmed from a Sony camera).

See YouTube video 12/16/17 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “open flame for the celebration”, “Every Soul Celebrates”, “Evolving, Connecting and Confounding”, and “Utopia Never Happened” from her book “(pheromemes) 2015-2017 show poems” @ the AIPF booth during the Awesmic City Expo (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See YouTube video 12/16/17 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “open flame for the celebration”, “Every Soul Celebrates”, “Evolving, Connecting and Confounding”, and “Utopia Never Happened” from her book “(pheromemes) 2015-2017 show poems” @ the AIPF booth during the Awesmic City Expo (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers at her 2/7/18 “Community Poetry @ Half Price Books” Austin feature reading, reading her haiku “don’t” and her “Our Cultural Independence and Achieving Global Freedom” poems “Xerostomia” & “Utopia Never Happened” from the cc&d 2/18 book “Question Everything” to people live (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers at her 2/7/18 “Community Poetry @ Half Price Books” Austin feature reading, reading her haiku “don’t” and her “Our Cultural Independence and Achieving Global Freedom” poems “Xerostomia” & “Utopia Never Happened” from the cc&d 2/18 book “Question Everything” to people live (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers at her 5/2/18 “May 2018 Book Release Reading” Austin feature reading, reading from the cc&d January-April 2018 issue collection book “Not a Trace” haiku poems “brain”, “escape”, and “don’t”, plus her poems “Xerostomia” & “Utopia Never Happened” from her show “Our Cultural Independence and Achieving Global Freedom” at “Community Poetry @ Half Price Books” (filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers at her 5/2/18 “May 2018 Book Release Reading” Austin feature reading, reading from the cc&d January-April 2018 issue collection book “Not a Trace” haiku poems “brain”, “escape”, and “don’t”, plus her poems “Xerostomia” & “Utopia Never Happened” from her show “Our Cultural Independence and Achieving Global Freedom” at “Community Poetry @ Half Price Books” (filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading

Utopia never happened Janet Kuypers 6/11/17 The last thing I remembered was making the left-hand turn at the car intersection in the middle of nowhere. There was no one for miles, but I suddenly saw the oncoming car careening straight toward me. All I could do was slam on my brakes and brace for impact. But I woke in a strange bed and I could hear health monitors. I think I was in a hospital room, but I had no idea where I was. I was mortified. I rubbed my temple, I felt okay, maybe bruised, so I didn’t know why I was here. And the last thing I wanted was doctors I didn’t know telling me I couldn’t leave and leaving me trapped like a prisoner. I’ve been trapped like this before, I know this feeling all to well. I just wanted to be free — I worked all my life to gain my independence, to stand up for myself, to do what was right — and there was no way I wanted to be placed in a straight jacket and trapped in a hospital again. I was better than this. I had to be. I rubbed my temple as I carefully walked toward the closed door, until the door opened; a man saw me and smiled. “I’m glad to see you’re doing well,” he said, smiling, and as I felt my blood begin to boil I asked, “Where am I?” And he could tell from my tone that I shouldn’t be reckoned with, so he laid it all out for me. “You got away from other people with your car. Then you were knocked out from the crash. The driver from the other car didn’t make it, so we flew you here. You see, we’ve watched your work, you’ve got a lot of talent, and we’ve seen you fight every step of the way when you’ve tried to accomplish your goals. I think you understand how unfair the government can be, and we know you understand how those with the government’s mentality will use any tactic other than reason to stop you as well. So we though we could save you from that, where you could work with your mind and be respected again.” I just stared at him, but I think he saw the look in my eyes turn from an indicting stare to an incredulous gaze before I looked away in disbelief. “I can tell you aren’t interested. But others like you around the world got fed up with fighting a system they couldn’t beat.” I had to stop him. “Where am I?” My tone was almost threatening. “We flew you to an island that no radar can detect, because here you can work, and you won’t be stopped.” “I was able to work before,” I answered. “And how many hoops did you have to jump through to do it?” he answered, which stopped me enough to think about all I fought in my life, and it was usually all to no good. “We’ve seen your work,” he started to say, now more relaxed than before. “And because of that, we started an account for you, for all the good you’ve done and never been paid for before. You can stay here with us, with other minds open and eager to listen.” I stared for a moment, knowing I was taken here, but wondering if there was any truth to what he was saying. “And maybe once you see people here, maybe you’ll see everyone here is worthy of respect.” He waited for me to interject. I thought about the goals I accomplished. Then I thought about how I had to fight to get anything done. I didn’t interject. “You can stay here as my guest, but I think you’ll look forward to being here on your own. You’ll be able to work at what you need to do, and you will be paid fairly for your work.” He paused again. “But you need rest. Please, sleep, and we’ll talk in the morning.” And with that he left the room. I slowly sat down on the bed again. In a way, it sounded like a dream come true, being free from the suppressing forces, having true independence to live the way I was meant to. I rubbed my temple again as I lay down in bed. I was brought here against my will, but wait a minute, this could be an intellectual utopia. All I could think was that this could be my chance to live with others from around the world that came to this one sacred place where our independent wills actually brought us all together to be smarter, stronger, and more free. I closed my eyes. I don’t know how long my eyes were closed, but when I opened my eyes I was in my own bed, with my fingers still at my temple. I knew this couldn’t be a dream. But here I am. And after I’m sure I heard this man’s words, I don’t want to believe that this respect, this freedom, this independence, this utopia, I can’t believe that all of this, that this      never      happened. I want to believe that this respect, this freedom, this independence — that this utopia is just waiting for me to find it.

Copyright © Janet Kuypers.

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

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