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See a YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Queens Rule” (written 11/25, on and for the 1454 birthday of Catherine Cornaro, the Last Queen of Cyprus; d. 1510), “Expand and Save Yourselves” (written 11/26, on and for the 1504 date of the death of Queen Isabella I of Castile), “Underground History” (written 11/30, on and for the 1866 date work begins on the 1st U.S. underwater highway tunnel, in Chicago), “Your Burden” (written 12/1, on and for the 1847 birthdate of the American poet Julia A. Moore; d1920), “Under Our Own Feet” (written 12/2, on and for the 1942 date man achieved the 1st artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction), “Knew the Word” (written 12/2, on and for the 1818 date Illinois became the 21st state of the United States of America), and “from Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet” (written 11/4, on and for Wildlife Conservation Day), from the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” for The Café Gallery 12/1/20 Book Reading in The Café Gallery 2020 book reading series (video from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypersthecafegallery

See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Queens Rule”, “Expand and Save Yourselves”, “Underground History”, “Your Burden”, “Under Our Own Feet”, “Knew the Word”, AND “from Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, from the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” for The Café Gallery 12/1/20 Book Reading in The Café Gallery 2020 book reading series (this video was filmed and streamed from a Samsung S9 camera). #janetkuypersthecafegallery

Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Our Waste in Space”, “Judged on Looks”, “Know Peace and Rise to Power”, “People Forget Politics”, “Unwind and Revere Yourself”, “Expand and Save Yourselves”, and “Queens Rule” from the Down in the Dirt November 2021 v189 issue/paperback book “A Door is A Door is A Door” 11/3/21 at the performance art pavilion at the French Market in New Orleans, LA on the 1st Wednesday of the month from 1:00-3:00 PM CST during the usual time for the “Community Poetry” open mic (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading

Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Our Waste in Space”, “Judged on Looks”, “Know Peace and Rise to Power”, “People Forget Politics”, “Unwind and Revere Yourself”, “Expand and Save Yourselves”, and “Queens Rule” from the Down in the Dirt November 2021 v189 issue/paperback book “A Door is A Door is A Door” 11/3/21 at the performance art pavilion at the French Market in New Orleans, LA on the 1st Wednesday of the month from 1:00-3:00 PM CST during the usual time for the “Community Poetry” open mic (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera with a Sepia Tone filter; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading

Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Every Day is Sweetest Day”, “Know Peace and Rise to Power”, and “Expand and Save Yourselves” from the Scars Publications 9-12/21 Down in the Dirt issue collection book “Stardust in Hand” as the ending poems for the “Poetic License virtual open mic 2/6/22” she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperspoeticlicense

Enjoy this Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Every Day is Sweetest Day”, “Know Peace and Rise to Power”, and “Expand and Save Yourselves” from the Scars Publications 9-12/21 Down in the Dirt issue collection book “Stardust in Hand” as the ending poems for the “Poetic License virtual open mic 2/6/22” she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (this video was filmed & streamed from a Samsung S9 camera with an old b&w film filter; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperspoeticlicense

Expand and Save Yourselves Janet Kuypers 11/26/19 (on the 1504 date of the death of Queen Isabella I of Castile) It is funny, looking back on history, how Pope Alexandre VI recognized King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I of Castile as “a Servant of God ” in 1974, posthumously in the Catholic Church... Who knows, that may have been because these two completed the “Reconquista”, the ordering of either conversion or exile of all their Muslim and Jewish subjects. But why mess your head with this history or religion when her marriage to Ferdinand was then the basis for Spain’s defacto union, and it was only after her struggle to claim her right to the throne did she reorganize the government, eliminate the national debt and bring the nation’s crime rates down to their lowest levels in years. With all this extra money, she was even able to finance Christopher Columbus’ 1492 voyage, leading to the discovery of “the New World ” (though it wasn’t new to the natives here), making Spain a global power for a century. But you see, these were times not of love (did you really expect to find love in Royalty) but in betrothing little girls to little boys for future family alignment for national power. So Isabella was betrothed at the age of six, despite familial deaths and power struggles to destroy the chances of these two children marrying each other — even though they were cousins, when did that ever stop Royalty, ’til they eventually got what they wanted. Isabella came to rule in 1474, but Castile was in a state of ruin from King Henry IV (her brother’s) reign. Even though her brother named her as his successor, people tried to kill her, and war ensued for years over control over the Atlantic. So, that whole discovery mess with Christopher Columbus actually freed Castile from this difficult predicament, because this discovery of a “New World” led to a much more balanced “sharing” of the seas. In all this war, telling Columbus to go West was the only way these Spanish monarchs could think of further expansion, and with that out of the way, Queen Isabella (okay, Isabel in Spain) was finally able to start reforming the country King Henry IV, her brother, left in such disrepair.                                                       At this point I guess I could rehash all the things the Queen did to improve and expand her country, but all I can think about right now is how Isabel made the choice to take a chance to explore — and look what it did for her country. I think of this on the day she passed away, a day so close to Thanksgiving here in the United States. Exploration. During war. That pioneering spirit has been ingrained into this country, for good or for bad, but when faced against impossible odds, our only option seems to be to see what is out there for us to learn from and explore.

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