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

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Orange Clouds and Blood-Red Sunsets” (written on Nature Photography Day) “Vanquished by the Sleeping Giant” (written 6/16, the day in 1940 when a Communist government took over Lithuania), and “Learning More (2019 edit)” (edited on Father’s Day), live 6/16/19 at “Spoken and Heard” in Austin (PLT56).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Orange Clouds and Blood-Red Sunsets” (written on Nature Photography Day) “Vanquished by the Sleeping Giant” (written 6/16, the day in 1940 when a Communist government took over Lithuania), and “Learning More (2019 edit)” (edited on Father’s Day), live 6/16/19 at “Spoken and Heard” in Austin (P2500).

See YouTube video live 10/19/19 at Austin’s “Open Mic Showcase”, where Janet Kuypers read poems from a variety of books in multiple rounds to the live audience at the bookstore, including this poem (video filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera); on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram & Tumblr.

See YouTube video live 10/19/19 at Austin’s “Open Mic Showcase”, where Janet Kuypers read poems from a variety of books in multiple rounds to the live audience at the bookstore, including this poem (video filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera); on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram & Tumblr.

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Cesium for Certainty”, “Voluptuous, and Intelligent Too”, “Escape to Peace”, “Sledgehammers and Cheers”, “Orange Clouds and Blood-Red Sunsets”, “Kept my Eye on You”, “Vanquished by the Sleeping Giant”, and “Feeling of False Ownership” from the Down in the Dirt 6/20 book “Existential Threats” during the “Poetic License open mic 6/7/20 home edition” she hosted through a Facebook event page (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr).

See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Cesium for Certainty”, “Voluptuous, and Intelligent Too”, “Escape to Peace”, “Sledgehammers and Cheers”, “Orange Clouds and Blood-Red Sunsets”, “Kept my Eye on You”, “Vanquished by the Sleeping Giant”, and “Feeling of False Ownership” from the Down in the Dirt 6/20 book “Existential Threats” during the “Poetic License open mic 6/7/20 home edition” she hosted through a Facebook event page (from a Samsung S9 camera).

See a YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Cesium for Certainty”, “Voluptuous, and Intelligent Too”, “Escape to Peace”, “Sledgehammers and Cheers”, “Orange Clouds and Blood-Red Sunsets”, “Kept my Eye on You”, “Vanquished by the Sleeping Giant”, and “Feeling of False Ownership” from the v172 “Existential Threats” section of the Down in the Dirt 5-8 2020 collection book “Outside the Box” live 8/25/20 for The Café Gallery 2020 book reading series (Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr).

See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Cesium for Certainty”, “Voluptuous, and Intelligent Too”, “Escape to Peace”, “Sledgehammers and Cheers”, “Orange Clouds and Blood-Red Sunsets”, “Kept my Eye on You”, “Vanquished by the Sleeping Giant”, and “Feeling of False Ownership” from the v172 “Existential Threats section of the Down in the Dirt 5-8 2020 collection book “Outside the Box” live 8/25/20 for The Café Gallery 2020 book reading series (this video was filmed live and streamed from a Samsung S9 camera).

Vanquished by the            Sleeping Giant Janet Kuypers 6/16/19, on the anniversary of the day in 1940 when Communist government took over Lithuania We draw strength from our past experiences. When only light and truth could guide our steps, we have no choice but to remember our battles. We now dread what bloodshed may lay ahead when a sleeping giant just past our borders once went in and took us over, nearly destroying us. We fought back then, recovered independence — warily tethering our small state together again. Why must we fight such an unforgiving enemy? Who do we hold accountable but a faceless face we’re supposed to revere as a supreme comrade? What more can we do, to prove to you that it is we who should be treated with solemn respect, we, with true dignity. Our people have fought you without question for far too many years, and now we live in a fractured society because of your reign. Wanting to take us over, you now provide this truly wicked, thinly-veiled ultimatum to take us over, which only meant you could infiltrate us, and we would have no choice at this point in the battle but to welcome you in. But it is you who do not understand — we could not in good conscience do this. If your war will continue to rage on, know that the battle will be ours in the end. They talk about the little ones winning the war, coming back from darkness when all was lost. This is why I said past experience is where we draw strength. Only light and truth would guide our steps. We remember our battles — we stand proud of our past and our future, and we will always embrace our culture, our history, forever.

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