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


video 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
video 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
video Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Under Our Own Feet”, “(from) Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, “Other Side”, “Ornaments from my Childhood”, “Knew the Word”, “Until I Get a Chance”, and “Original Sin and Unholy Ways” from the cc&d 12/21 v316 book “Man on the Street” 12/1/21 on the 1st Wednesday of the month from 1:00-3:00 PM CST during the usual time for the “Community Poetry” open mic (Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading
video Enjoy this Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Under Our Own Feet”, “(from) Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, “Other Side”, “Ornaments from my Childhood”, “Knew the Word”, “Until I Get a Chance”, and “Original Sin and Unholy Ways” from the cc&d 12/21 v316 book “Man on the Street” 12/1/21 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 & streamed from a Samsung S9 camera with a bubble filter). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading
video Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Under Our Own Feet”, “(from) Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, and “Knew the Word” from the Scars Publications cc&d magazine 12/21 v316 book “Man on the Street” to start the “Poetic License virtual open mic 12/5/21 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). #janetkuypers janertkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperspoeticlicense
video Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Under Our Own Feet”, “(from) Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, and “Knew the Word” from the Scars Publications cc&d magazine 12/21 v316 book “Man on the Street” to start the “Poetic License virtual open mic 12/5/21 she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera with a Hue Cycling filter; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperspoeticlicense
video Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Under Our Own Feet”, “(from) Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, and “Knew the Word” from the Scars Publications cc&d magazine 12/21 v316 book “Man on the Street” to start the “Poetic License virtual open mic 12/5/21 she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (filmed from a Samsung S9 camera with a color tear filter; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperspoeticlicense
video Enjoy this Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Under Our Own Feet”, “(from) Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, and “Knew the Word” from the Scars Publications cc&d magazine 12/21 v316 book “Man on the Street” to start the “Poetic License virtual open mic 12/5/21 she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (this video was filmed & streamed from a Samsung S9 camera with a color tear filter; posted on Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperspoeticlicense
video Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Under Our Own Feet”, “(from) Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, “Other Side”, “Ornaments from my Childhood”, and “Knew the Word” from the 9-12/21 cc&d book “The World Outside” 5/4/22 on the 1st Wednesday of the month from 1:00-3:00 PM CST during the usual time for and in honor of the “Community Poetry” reading (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry
video Enjoy this Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Under Our Own Feet”, “(from) Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, “Other Side”, “Ornaments from my Childhood”, and “Knew the Word” from the 9-12/21 cc&d book “The World Outside” 5/4/22 on the 1st Wednesday of the month from 1:00-3:00 PM CST during the usual time for and in honor of the “Community Poetry” reading (video from a Samsung S9 camera with a b&w Old Film filter; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypers

(from)
Visiting Pristine Places
                 on the Planet

Janet Kuypers
12/4/19 (written on and for Wildlife Conservation Day
with altered & additional writing to the 11/21/17 poem
that was first written in Antarctica, by Whaler’s Harbour)

When I was young, the world
was the size of a thimble, and all
I needed was in my own back yard.
But on my own, I was only a dot
in the Universe. So I traveled, once

saw a gold fox on a snowy roadside.
When I stepped out of my Saturn,
the fox hopped into and through
the 4'-deep snow field. I took 2 steps,
then watched his gold fur sprint away.

Then after retracing Darwin’s Steps
at the Galapagos Islands,
I stopped near the crisscrossed
overlapping Sea Lions napping —
so I could contemplate natural selection.

And after seeing destroyed British ships
from early whaling in Antarctica,
I photographed the first Humpback whales
of the season, then took a picture with
a Gentoo penguin as I sat in the snow

and the penguin approached me.

When a man in the 3rd poorest country
in the world was asked why the poor locals
seemed so happy, he explained.
We may not have it all, but we can
choose to be happy. And so we do.

And with these words, I proudly
choose life — I choose life for the Orcas
and Humpback whales, the Chin Strap
and Gentoo penguins, Cormorants, Gulls
and Terns. I choose life for Giant petrels,

Storm petrels, Finches, Nasca birds, even
Sea Lions and Marine Iguanas. I choose life
for the Wyoming bison who passed me on the street.
I choose life for the deer who approached us
as we slept in the grass under stars.

I choose life for all the mass-farmed
animals mankind slaughters because they
choose to consume death and not life.
I choose life, because without humankind’s
civilization, that’s when wildlife thrived.


Copyright © Janet Kuypers.

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



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