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

Watch this YouTube video 8:57, as a Christmas gift 12/18/07 at a Christmas tree for her husband

Watch this YouTube video 7:52, read live at the Galapagos Islands 12/25/07 on a boat for her husband

Watch the YouTube video live in Death ‘n’ Rebirth 07/11/10 at Beach Poets

Watch the full video of the full Death ‘n’ Rebirth 07/11/10 show at Beach Poets, from archive.org

download the free chapbook Death ‘n’ Rebirth with all of the writing in the live show

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers performing her observer’s improv (S, based on the poems seven and seven, plus eighteen, observations: nine and six, ten and ten, plus two, eleven and two, plus eight, and observer’s love poem) live 10/7/14 at Chicago’s the Café Gallery

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers performing her observer’s improv (C, based on the poems seven and seven, plus eighteen, observations: nine and six, ten and ten, plus two, eleven and two, plus eight, and observer’s love poem) live 10/7/14 at Chicago’s the Café Gallery

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Seven and Seven, Plus Eighteen”, “Observations: Nine and Six” and “Eleven and Two, Plus Eight” in her “Revealed” book reading at Austin’s “Open Mic Showcase” 11/17/19 (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera, and posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Seven and Seven, Plus Eighteen”, “Observations: Nine and Six” and “Eleven and Two, Plus Eight” in her “Revealed” book reading at Austin’s “Open Mic Showcase” 11/17/19 (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera, and posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers live at Austin’s “Open Mic Showcase” 11/17/19 reading poetry in 3 sets from her her “Revealed”. In set 1 she read her poems “Seven and Seven, Plus Eighteen”, “Observations: Nine and Six” and “Eleven and Two, Plus Eight”. In set 2 she read her poems “Scratch the Surface”, “Freedom just Past the Fence” and “Before Taking Over the Controls”. In set 3 she read her poems “Universe... Now In Color”, “Beauty in the Eyes of Einstein” and “Love Affair With The Moon 2012” (from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera, and posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers live at Austin’s “Open Mic Showcase” 11/17/19 reading poetry in 3 sets from her her “Revealed”. In set 1 she read her poems “Seven and Seven, Plus Eighteen”, “Observations: Nine and Six” and “Eleven and Two, Plus Eight”. In set 2 she read her poems “Scratch the Surface”, “Freedom just Past the Fence” and “Before Taking Over the Controls”. In set 3 she read her poems “Universe... Now In Color”, “Beauty in the Eyes of Einstein” and “Love Affair With The Moon 2012” (from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera, and posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr).

Seven and Seven, plus Eighteen I know I’m supposed to be the creative one but I started my schooling in computer science engineering if I ever write anything, it’s not creative, it’s what makes sense         which is what I feel I say I’m a writer I say I’m an artist but I haven’t known what to say to you and if I wrote something it would be too straight-forward but I want to do this for you I want you to understand and all I can think is that if I were a painter I’d be Michelangelo and paint my love for you like it was the Sistine Chapel,                     our hands touching in the sky, like it was our Last Supper if I were a painter I’d give you something that would be cherished, it may deteriorate with each passing century but as time wore on and oil paint peeled away it would show more layers of my love for you what am I saying painting like Michelangelo I’d probably paint like Jackson Pollock and throw splashes of paint on a canvas and call the dripping lines of splattered paint art maybe I’m not an artist but when I met you, I asked you questions I wanted to learn about you I wanted to soak you in so maybe I’m not a writer maybe I’m not an artist maybe I’m an observer like an astronomer looking out into the universe trying to understand what makes everything everything what makes my tie to you so concrete like my father and my grandfather’s construction business like my brother’s desire to design buildings you wondered why I love tall buildings reaching up towards the sky maybe my tie is so much more concrete than art I travel around the world learning different histories, different cultures I fly in airplanes I jump from airplanes I pilot airplanes trying to get closer to the stars and when I’m on the ground I admire the tall buildings, reaching up toward infinity so maybe I’m meant to be an astronomer studying something colder than ice, far away Pluto is an aberrant ball of ice I don’t know, I was taught it was a planet but then they told me no, it’s not it’s just a ball of ice from the Kuiper Belt the Kuiper Belt isn’t it ironic they say it wasn’t what I wanted but I wanted to learn and it’s still a part of me # we were outside at night in fair hope to see the intricate quilt of stars in the sky and lying on the grass the stars over us, blanketing us                 smothering me in my love for you I rested my head on your shoulder and fell asleep with you, under the stars molecule by molecule, we originate from stars and the stars were our blanket as a deer came walking feet away from us, not afraid and now I know we are all linked, our bodies formed from stardust but outer space is a violent place violent explosions create the stars and our earth has earthquakes, avalanches, volcanoes tsunamis, typhoons and in all this madness somehow I’ve found you I’m not a writer, I’m not a journalist I’m an observer and I came to you asking questions and somehow broke your hardened shell yes, in all this madness somehow I found you I’ve survived the thunder and the lightning the blizzards, the hurricanes and the tornadoes I’ve lived through the drought I’ve survived it all I’ve even been dealt a near fatal blow                                         from humanity and it’s as if the Gods are paying me back for everything by giving me you and with you I have walked on the tops of glaciers                 crouching down from the violent winds                 looking down into the beginning of time with you I have watched solar storms and the geomagnetic aberrations of the Aurora Borealis from near the Arctic Circle and what has man done that you can see from outer space? well, I believe I even held your hand as we walked along the Great Wall of China as I said before, I’m only an observer but now I can’t imagine seeing the world without you and with these observations, I thee wed because I will never let you go # I heard a country song about a man who died and was watching his love                         from above and I thought, if one of us left this earth would they watch from above and wail ‘til we could be together again? once our spirits found each other I wonder if our spirits could hold hands the way we always do when we’re together making sure not to let each other go I’ve seen galaxies collide I’ve seen comets smash into planets I’ve seen supernovae and the death of stars and in all of that, I still found you as I said, I’m only an observer but I’ve found what I’ve been looking for so I’ll tighten my grip on your hand because I don’t ever want to let you go Copyright © 2007 Janet Kuypers. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission.