GELOFTEDAG 2023

 Credo

Voor geen van alle ooit aanbeden goden
heb ik iets meer gevoeld dan voor een naam:
herkenning door vertrouwdheid of door faam
of eerbied als voor onbekende doden.

Ze hebben mij met redding noch geboden
gewezen op het nut van hun bestaan,
mij wonderen noch leed doen ondergaan
en lenigden geen van mijn aardse noden.

Wat rest, is een geloof in de concrete
verering van de warmte en het licht,
in hoop dat iets ons hoedt voor twist en vete,
dat overmacht voor schietgebeden zwicht
en dat het ritueel van alledag
het sterfelijke overwinnen mag.

In schier aanroepen van ultiem gezag,

als was het een gelofte voor de slag:
spreek ons ook nu vrij in dit wreed gericht,
wie Gij ook zijt, verhoor weer onze beden,
want wij zijn U nog dankbaarheid verplicht,
om hoop en onze roem op ons verleden.

M C Potgieter, Lazdas

soldate weet...

 - of jy HEIDEN, JOOD of MOHAMMEDAAN IS -

... die meeste van die tyd

is dit "hurry up and wait",

maar wanneer jy KONTAK, KONTAK, KONTAK slaan

gaan die verstekinstelling aan:

word jy meedoënloos doodsmasjien

wat niks of niemand meer ontsien.

soldate weet...

- of jy HEIDEN, JOOD of MOHAMMEDAAN IS -

... in die hitte van die stryd

maak geen goed of kwaad nog uit

jy veg vir geen volk of vaderland

selfs geen vriendskaps- of familieband.

soldate weet...

- of jy HEIDEN, JOOD of MOHAMMEDAAN IS -

... geen heldedom of -daad bestaan meer

alles wat beweeg skiet jy neer

dis ek of jy: jou dood is my beste kameraad

my mees menslike, o, so menslike, daad.

[Najaar 2023]

ONOORTREFLIKE GELOOFSBELYDENIS

"Dear V..., 

First of all, excuse us for leaving so abruptly yesterday – we wanted to have a look at a property on our way home and therefore needed to leave before it got dark.

 Because our conversation was incomplete to my mind, I feel that you may have got the wrong impression about my answer to your question as to whether I would have children again, given the opportunity. I have been asked this a few times and my short and not-so-sweet answer yesterday was the same as it has always been: “no”. I added that this is so without any reference at all to our children because it is not they who have made me come to this conclusion.

 After having expressed this and thought about it again, I would like to reformulate my point of view to make things clearer: I do not regret having had our three sons but I do regret having put them on this earth and, by so doing, having compelled them to live this existence that we call “life”. My former formulation of not wanting to have any children any more if I were to be given the opportunity again creates the impression that they somehow form part of that opinion, which is not the case at all. As a matter of fact, I think that all three of them are doing a wonderful job at coping with all the challenges life is throwing at them remarkably well and with extreme resilience (awful fashionable word but that is the applicable word for the idea that I want to express).

 The problem lies in the fact that I did not realise when we decided to have them that life, as we knew it when we made the decision, would change in such a way that I would never be able to raise them to the full myself as I had always envisioned I would, nor did I realise that the world would change in the way it has (which is a point that we can discuss at some later stage if necessary or desirable). I realised that I, for my part, had made a mistake to contribute to the decision to bring three children into this world and, in a sense, compel them to live this life which, in my case, was living me instead of I it.

 Then, about motherhood: motherhood (and grandmotherhood even more so) is a wonderful experience. I just wish I’d had more of a chance to be a full-time mother.

 A last point I want to make is that I have always felt that, as a mother and grandmother, I have always tried to, and shall willingly and dutifully, help our children (including their partners) and provide them with the assistance and support where I am able to do so. By “willingly and dutifully” I mean: I want to do so but I also have the duty to do so because it was my choice to have them, not their choice to be here. 

It was a pleasure to meet you and I would like to thank you for making me think about these matters again by asking your question about having children. I hope to see you again next time you come to visit A... and perhaps welcome you to the place we refer to as “home” these days. Have a safe trip back to Paris!

 Sincere regards,

Tinkeljander"

...en om een-of-ander rede herinner dit my aan:

http://mierleeu.blogspot.com/2013/06/