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

Watch this YouTube video (studio session 03/16/09)

Watch this YouTube video of the Cutting Room Floor at the Palos Park Public Library 10/07/09

or see the full 10/07/09 Video at the Palos Park Public Library of the Cutting Room Floor via the Internet Archive

Watch this YouTube video Live at the Café in Chicago 02/24/09

Watch this YouTube video live at Cana-Dixie to Chi-town 12/15/09

See YouTube video 5/13/16 of Janet Kuypers reading her 3 poems Lambs To Heaven’s Gate, Why I Didn’t See God and thank you, women who work one, plus her bonus reading of the Ai poem The Good Shepherd at Georgetown’s Poetry Plus open mic at Cianfrani’s (from a Canon Power Shot camera).

See YouTube video 5/13/16 of Janet Kuypers reading her 3 poems Lambs To Heaven’s Gate, Why I Didn’t See God and thank you, women who work one, plus her bonus reading of the Ai poem The Good Shepherd at Georgetown’s Poetry Plus open mic at Cianfrani’s in Texas (from a Sony camera).

Why I Didn’t See God Janet Kuypers, 12/29/08 I would be walking home from school and the next thing I’d know is that I was flying an airplane again the weather was really awful this time and I had to take a terrible turn to try to get through this air maze I could feel the controls shaking in my hands but before I had a chance to land I would be walking again almost at my friend’s house same clothes, no school books and I’d wonder how I got there and where was that plane I remember walking through the fields behind my parent’s house and seeing a missile flying through the sky I stood and watched as the missile landed across the field and the mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion started to rise I just watched in amazement as I could feel the shock wave race through the field, push through my body before I felt the first wave of heat rip through me I can’t remember seeing the foliage burning but I remember feeling my skin burn looking down at my hands I’d feel my skin singe and start to disintegrate and the sickly sweet smell I couldn’t shake it till I finally closed my eyes I opened my eyes and my friends were in the field with me I didn’t know why they were all looking at me till I looked down and saw the ball in my hand and knew they were waiting for me to pitch the ball   ###   I was medicated for years and couldn’t even get my driver’s license right away because of seizures but I could smell my skin from the nuclear blast feel the shake from the plane controls course up my arms I watched the nuclear blast felt my plane nose dive I knew they happened and the doctors would ask me if I hear voices in my head or if I’d hear someone calling my name and the answer was yes   ###   but things have changed since then the doctors deduced that I wasn’t schizophrenic I didn’t have a psychological disorder (I guess that’s their way of saying I’m sane) and I no longer got those hallucinations   ###   but recently, learning from a philosophy book discussing visions the saints saw             I always thought they were hallucinations             of those who fasted for weeks             but were allowed to drink only beer but this book credited a number of scientists who hypothesized that these saintly visions were products of temporal lobe seizures many small seizures I was an altar boy I was thinking of becoming a priest and I think of these visions that preceded men’s sainthood I think of my memories of brushes with death it just makes me wonder in all of my memories why I didn’t see God Copyright © 2008 Janet Kuypers. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission.