Reason # 22 POETRY & AWARDS

 Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to receive a few awards, each marking a meaningful chapter in my life.

It is never about the awards -  it is about the journey...





Heckroodt Prys vir Letterkunde (Poësie) 1987

"Mees belowende Jong digter onder 25 (ongepubliseerd)"

Die Bundel onder was die eind-resultaat.



LINK

Bundel: Die Weerbarstige Spleet


SO TODAY, WE ARE ALSO CELEBRATING THE POEMS I WROTE, HERE IS ONE...

BEGIN EN EINDE
Ernest van Zyl
(9 September 1986)

NOTA: Ingrid Jonker sterf op 19 Julie 1965 te Drieankerbaai naby Kaapstad
Op dieselfde dag is die digter gebore


Vir Ingrid

Drieankerbaaidagbreek
Drieankerbaaidood
Daal jou bitter-bessie-son finaal
En draai jy vir laas
Op die troebel paadjies
Van jou woorde af
Drieankerbaaibranders
Drieankerbaaibang
Stap jou voete ‘n vreemde kus tegemoed;
Die see hou sy asem in
Die wind gaan uit eerbied lê
Die meeue draai bedroef hul rug
Die kreet van 19 Julie
Is beide klank van lewe en dood
Die waters wat breek
Breek ter wille van geboorte
En   ter wille van dood
Wie, o wie, bly oor
Om jou dood te wreek ?
Drieankerbaaieinde
Vredendalbegin
Sterf jy
Op 19 Julie
En word ek vlees
Om negentien jaar later
Verdere verse en vrese
Vir jou dennebospad te wees
En nou:
Na hierdie onthullings
en voortgesette frases
met reeds gestorte trane
Sal dit weer so wees
nuwe fases
Die wat dood is
Lewe
En die wat lewe
het reeds gesterf
Alles weer gekring:
n nuwe gerf
Geboorte
Lewe
Dood
Verrot
Grond groei en bot
Weer lewe
In die bundels Dennebosbome van onthou


Writing a poem is not merely the act of putting words on paper — it is a quiet excavation of the soul. It begins in stillness, often in a moment when the world around you slows just enough for a thought, an image, or a feeling to rise to the surface. Sometimes it comes with urgency, a need to shape something raw and formless into meaning.

As the words begin to flow, the writer becomes both sculptor and pilgrim. Each line chiseled from experience, memory, or longing is a small act of truth-telling. To write a poem is to pay attention — to the flicker of light on a wall, the echo of a childhood laugh, the ache of loss, the tremble of hope. It demands honesty, even when it’s uncomfortable. Especially then.

And in that process, something shifts in the soul. Writing a poem can clarify what was once confused, give voice to what was silent, and offer peace to what once stirred in chaos. It's a kind of inner alchemy — pain becomes beauty, confusion becomes insight, solitude becomes communion.

Sometimes, writing a poem is like breathing underwater — strange and miraculous. Other times, it is a struggle, wrestling language into form. But always, when it is done, the soul is changed. Not always healed, not always finished — but deepened, made more awake.

In the end, poetry is not something we write. It is something that writes us...


Weer die 9de

die keer Junie 2025

LINK:

LINK to Landing page with LINKS to other "REASONS" posts

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Reason # 1 LIFE is always worth CELEBRATING

Reason # 2 House Rules & STORY TELLING

Reason # 3 Each life is a GIFT - whether you are a "BONT", BLACK or WHITE sheep