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


video See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Judging the Chicago Seven(for the beginning of the trial against the Chicago Seven) and “Because of Fire(for the 10/8/1871 start of the Great Chicago Fire, that lasted 2 days) from the cc&d 10/20 v302 book “Wildflowers” live 9/29/20 during the Spoken Word Paris/Online (Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).
video See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Judging the Chicago Seven” and “Because of Fire” from the cc&d 10/20 v302 book “Wildflowers” live 9/29/20 during the Spoken Word Paris / Spoken Word Online (Samsung S9 camera).
video See a YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her haiku “guard(written 9/26, on and for National Situational Awareness Day), then her poems “Vampires and Blood-Sucking Mosquitos Alike(written 10/6, on and for Garlic Lover’s Day), “From Orpheus to Nuking the Moon(for mid-October’s Astronomy Day), “Kill with Impunity(written 10/7, on and for the 1900 birthday of Heinrich Himmler), “Octopi and Brains” and “Octopi Target McDonald’s(for 10/8, World Octopus Day), “Because of Fire(written 10/8, on and for the start of the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, that lasted 2 days), “Judging the Chicago Seven(written 10/9, on and for the day of the beginning of the 1969 trial against the Chicago Seven), and “‘the Robot Zombie Witch Girl’ revisited(for 10/10, National Zombie Day) from the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” for The Café Gallery 10/6/20 Book Reading in The Café Gallery 2020 book reading series (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).
video See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her haiku “guard”, then her poems “Vampires and Blood-Sucking Mosquitos Alike”, “From Orpheus to Nuking the Moon”, “Kill with Impunity”, “Octopi and Brains” and “Octopi Target McDonald’s”, “Because of Fire”, “Judging the Chicago Seven”, and “‘the Robot Zombie Witch Girl’ revisited” from the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” for The Café Gallery 10/6/20 Book Reading in The Café Gallery 2020 book reading series (filmed and streamed live from a Samsung S9 camera).
video See a YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Judging the Chicago Seven”, “Kept Religion out of Politics”, “Oscar the Grouch and the Recycle Nazi”, and “Because of Fire” from the Scars Publications cc&d 9-12 2020 issue collection book anthology “Roll the Bones” for “The Café Gallery 3/2/21 Book Reading” in The Café Gallery Book Reading series (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera, and posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).  #janetkuypers   #janetkuyperspoetry   #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypersthecafegallery
video See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Judging the Chicago Seven”, “Kept Religion out of Politics”, “Oscar the Grouch and the Recycle Nazi”, and “Because of Fire” as her closing poems from the “Wildflowers” section of the Scars Publications cc&d 9-12 2020 issue collection book anthology “Roll the Bones” for “The Café Gallery 3/2/21 Book Reading” in The Café Gallery Book Reading series 2020+ (this video was filmed and streamed from a Samsung S9 camera).   #janetkuypers   #janetkuyperspoetry   #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypersthecafegallery
video Enjoy this YouTube video 3/30/22 of Janet Kuypers during her “Poetry & Open Mic at The Gallery Cabaret 3/30/22” feature night in Chicago, where she read her poems (including this one) in her “Taking off the Maskfeature and chapbook (Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuyperspoetryshow #janetkuypersbookreading
video Enjoy this Facebook live video stream 3/30/22 of Janet Kuypers during her “Poetry & Open Mic at The Gallery Cabaret 3/30/22” feature night in Chicago, where she read her poems (including this one) in her “Taking off the Maskfeature and chapbook (this video was filmed & streamed live from a Samsung S9 camera with a Lava Lamp filter; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuyperspoetryshow #janetkuypersbookreading
video Enjoy this YouTube video 3/30/22 of Janet Kuypers during her “Poetry & Open Mic at The Gallery Cabaret 3/30/22” feature night in Chicago, where she read her poems “Vaccinated from What Happens in Wuhan”, “found pandemic haiku”, “Everyone’s Afraid”, “Out to the Horizon”, “jar for my beating heart”, “Because of Fire”, “Underground History”, “Quieting Anechoic Chamber”, “No One Reports for Women”, “like nothing ever happened”, “United We Wonder”, “Knew the Word”, and “Eighteen and Eight, Plus Eighteen: Where We’ve Been and What We’ve Seen” in her poetry feature “Taking off the Mask” (this video was filmed from a Samsung S7 camera and zoomed; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuyperspoetryshow #janetkuypersbookreading
video Enjoy this YouTube video 3/30/22 of Janet Kuypers during her “Poetry & Open Mic at The Gallery Cabaret 3/30/22” feature night in Chicago, where she read her poems “Vaccinated from What Happens in Wuhan”, “found pandemic haiku”, “Everyone’s Afraid”, “Out to the Horizon”, “jar for my beating heart”, “Because of Fire”, “Underground History”, “Quieting Anechoic Chamber”, “No One Reports for Women”, “like nothing ever happened”, “United We Wonder”, “Knew the Word”, and “Eighteen and Eight, Plus Eighteen: Where We’ve Been and What We’ve Seen” in her poetry feature “Taking off the Mask” (this video was filmed from a Samsung S7 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetryshow #janetkuypersbookreading

Because of Fire

Janet Kuypers
10/8/19, for the
start of the 1871
Great Chicago Fire,
that lasted 2 days

When we see fire overtake
an 850-year old monument
to religion, beauty, history —

we are taken aback, helpless,
suddenly aghast, at a loss,

against that primal silent killer.

But we look at candles lit,
hear the crackling campfire,
we feel the fireplace warmth

and remember why a part
of us still loves fire so. At times
like these, we must remember

that although a mass fire
seems only a symbol for
death and destruction,

maybe, after that great fire
that took over the only city
I love, maybe that destruction

only leads to building something
bigger, something better,
something that made more sense.

Because when I stroll from
one neighborhood to the next
with diverse cultural backgrounds

until I get toward the Lake,
where I can turn back to span the
most beautiful skyline I’ve ever seen,

I have to realize that this history
of destruction allowed us to make
something so good. All because of fire.


Copyright © Janet Kuypers.

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



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my hand to an anim of jkchair



Kuypers at Artvilla


scars publications


Kuypers writing