Fear not savory Países Bajos
you were not a notch on my bedpost
nor the bed on which to lay,
you, the name sake the same
Full of potential space to grow and make mistakes
In the caring paradise of your submerged marine terrains
The home to these navigating fins,
For the better part of 2 years
To it, this I gave before
resurfacing the Rivers Hudson & Bronx again
You commissioned a fortifying set of bridges
on which to reach an apex,
with little flex
Perhaps it was I who lost my way a bit
misinterpreted things in the cool air
When things were good, we were as well,
When the work had ceased
my finances tightened
A knot on a docked boat enticed by the seas
I took our glories and low maintenance attitude
The tough times assuaged by your kindness
to mean
we would never punctuate
this run on sentence we co-penned
That our friendship could uphold with generosity and understanding
perhaps I erred and took you for granted
Took our break and talk of let’s be amicable,
let’s just as per usual friends
to mean I could
ethically non-monogamously
explore other shapely lands
I placed my fingers end
To bumps of brail meaning
“that one night with your English neighbor
would be a non-issue”
That I could come jump back to the warmth of
The most uneven bed
and the curious poses of an ever-present feline friend
who welcomed my foreign sensibilities
Perhaps I should have left things
while they were still good but Id’ be wrong if I had
For some of the best times came when 12 struck on 12
Bringing balance to the mess
that was the 2016 oude jaar dag
Perhaps things would have been different had I not pressed on
confidently moving on your Irish cousin
A move I foreshadowed in my gestures and spending weeks before
A move that would cost more than those Euros converted to lbs
Though certainly her sites were intriguing,
they could not have held a lekker drop to your candles wick
But by then it was too late,
you had changed the locks to your door
You had asked security to the gate,
Though familiar and kind they were
I was set aside non-book
paperless with unknown intentions
I couldn’t even have others speak on my behalf
Those who wanted to, could not,
those who could,
did not have control
They defaulted to the laws of your lands
I couldn’t’ fault them for my own debt
I just wish I got to dui dui properly
But even still, you had the best of your southern
& northern families collect my things
their kindness had no limits, nor an ask in my need
Indeed, I got the welcome back note
Forgiving my inept mistake
And when I return, will make warm embrace
To your folk, And cold drinks over our jovial reunions
With kindred neighbors who never left
With talks we didn’t get to have
Over kaas and bier, warm drink,
whose tastes I haven’t had in far too long
While I know things have changed between us
Know I still hold you in strong, warm regards
That a little bit of you goes with me
And when I bike in the cool breeze
will reminisce of your lessons over the grachts,
the memories from dancing pleins, het strant, grotemarkts
and rest of the low lands below the seas
Notes: (Dutch to English)
Kaas : Cheese
Bier : water …:P, Beer
Dui : informal goodbye
Gracht : Canal