Poems Archieven • Zatarra Raël Photography & Poetry

April 18, 2026 Agenda, Events, News, Poems, Poetry

May 25, 2026, Poetry @ Artwalk Art Sandur

Zatarra Raël will bring her poetry to Art Sandur

May 25th, I have the honour of weaving my poetry through the day during the Art walk at Art Sandur. I’ll visit several locations, bringing you different poetry performances.

The repertoire is diverse, and together we will travel from the rainforest all the way to the local Rietplas (Reedlake). Come and see, come and hear, or as we say in Emmen: Come and experience it! The weather promises to be on our side.

As the order and locations of my performances are not set in stone, it is a little difficult to say exactly where and when you will be able to find and hear me.

So I came up with the following solution: very simple, if you would like to know where I am heading next, just send me a delightfully old-fashioned SMS and I will let you know. (That is the only thing I will be checking while on the move.)

What I can already say is that I will in any case be visiting Pareldreef, Golfparkdreef, Agaatdreef and Diamantdreef.

Each location has an Art Sandur sign, making it easy to recognize where you need to be. Also see the map.
The best places to park are the recreation parking area (see P on the map) or the Rietplas parking area near the Pareldreef/Toermalijndreef.

You can find my number here.

Besides my travelling poetry performances, there will be much to discover and admire across 20 locations throughout Parc Sandur. Think of paintings, drawings, remarkable wooden sculptures, ceramics and even handmade gold and silver jewellery. In short, allow yourself to be surprised by the many forms and perspectives through which life is explored.

The ladies of Dwarzz will also provide a musical note (Someone whispered to me, that their inspiration for their programme comes from older Eurovision classics). Like me, they too will roam like nomads throughout this beautiful Whit Monday.

Will you join us in celebrating life and art?

Feel welcome.

Warm poetic regards,

Zatarra Raël 🌞

April 9, 2026 Agenda, Events, News, Poems, Poetry

2026 Poetry Festival in Haarlem

On Ascension Day, May 14, 2026, I will present new work at the Haarlemse Dichtlijn poetry festival starting at De Koepel in Haarlem. The program features a parallel line up spread across three rounds and six stages.

The poetry festival starts with a plenary session at 12:00 p.m. at De Koepel, formerly known as the prison yet now a vibrant venue where art, knowledge, and culture come together in dialogue about the meaning of freedom. In a nutshell, an inspiring place to reflect on what freedom truly means

The festival will be officially opened by poet, actress, and visual artist Roberta Petzoldt.

And the hosts for this edition are:

Jacqueline van de Sande, Chairman of the CultuurKoepel Foundation
Jan Hoekema, former director, coach, consultant, and moderator at De Pletterij.
Mireille Buldeo Rai (Jazz & Poetry & Art), runs her own poetry venue in Amsterdam and organizes poetry walks in Bos en Lommer.
Bart Top, former journalist who now among others organizes poetry walks in Amsterdam and the Haarlem Dunes.
Francien van den Berg, visual artist who creates tactile art and is a passionate reader.
Ingrid Elsing, initially a major advocate for poetry in education; now she promotes and presents for the Haarlemse Dichtlijn (Haarlem Poetry Line).

Schedule of the opening & performances on 6 stages:

– 12:00 PM: Plenary opening in the Koepel
– 1: 15 PM: First round of presentations
– 2:25 PM: Second round
– 3:35 PM: Third round
– 4:45 PM: After-party at Grand Café The Governor (Hotel Ambassador)

I’ll recite during the 2nd round at 2:25 p.m. at Jansstraat 33 & the 3rd round at 3:35 p.m. at Hof20 (Begijnhof 20).

Visiting the festival is free.

Poetry Collection & Theme

Once again this year, a beautiful festival anthology will be published especially for this occasion, featuring a new poem by each participating poet.
You can purchase the anthology during the festival for just €12. By doing so, you support the festival, ensuring that another poetry festival can be organized next year. In doing so, you give poets a platform and take home a lovely memento. (Also makes a great gift) ;).

This year’s cover illustration was created by artist Eric Coolen.

This year’s theme is metamorphosis.

For the collection, I wrote a new poem around this theme, which I will recite during the festival. Together with other new poems, I’m bringing you another poetic Zatarra-wave.

Come and listen, and allow yourself to experience the various forms this flow may take you through.

Will we meet on May 14?

Warm poetic regards,

Zatarra Raël

April 19, 2024 Poems, Poetry, Publications

Online publication April 2024

In April 2024 I participated in the poetry carousel of the Haarlemse Dichtlijn (Haarlem Poetry Line).

This time the strong poem “Durf (Dare)” by poet Monika Joras as inspiration and start of the carousel. Monika has already published many poetry collections which she likes to share with you via her website. My response to her poem, as well as the responses of all other poets, can be read at the website of the Haarlemse Dichtlijn (Haarlem Poetry Line), until a new carousel appears.

Again it has become an interesting carousel from various perspectives. Allow yourself to be inspired. Here you can find Monika’s poem “Durf” which means “Dare”.

Dare, dare to be yourself, be yourself. It sounds so easy and obvious, then why is it often so challenging …

You can find my poem here.

Image co-composed with AI, prompt inspired by my poem “Dare I …”

April 2, 2024 Poems, Poetry, Publications

Online publication March 2024

In March 2024 I again participated in the poetry carousel of the Haarlemse Dichtlijn (Haarlem Poetry Line).

This time a wonderful poem by poet Simon Mulder as inspiration and start of the carousel.
My response to his poem, as well as from all other poets, can still be read at the website of the Haarlemse Dichtlijn.

Again it has become an interesting carousel from various perspectives. Allow yourself to be inspired for as long as the publication is online. You can still read my poem at my poetry page. Simon Mulder’s poem I’ve found here, in the archive of the Haarlem Dichtlijn.

Images created using AI. Prompt components of my poem. In post-production I brought together various images and edited them.

June 12, 2023 Events, News, Poems, Poetry, Publications

Morning Orchestra 1064

A short report in words and images of the festive opening of the exhibition Florilegium Amsterdam 1064 by IJda Smits, in New Metropolis Nieuw-West.

It was a rich program with an opening speech by Rosa van Rumpt, who is program coordinator at the Van Eesteren Museum. Hereafter the third book with a handmade cover was presented.

This was followed by the poetic recitations by me and Azar Tishe.
As promised during the opening, below I share the poem: Morning Orchestra 1064: Rising Harmony, which I wrote especially for and inspired by the Florilegium Amsterdam 1064.

And last but not least, IJda had a surprise for us in store, as we received a crash course in cyanotyping. Awesome! The results were diverse. Here’s my result:

Missed the opening? You can still admire the beautiful cyanotypes and the Florilegium book until July 1st. Check the website of IJda for the dates and times.

NOTE: the exhibition has been extended and the finissage on July 1st has been postponed to later in July! The exact date will soon be announced.

Above:
poetry recitation by Zatarra Rafaël
Below:
while making a cyanotype

With many thanks for the photos, which were taken by Michiel Wijnbergh.

Morning Orchestra 1064: Rising Harmony

It’s a quiet morning
Fog whisper evaporates gently
in the whooshing, ever-present
undertone of the traffic

The whistles started late this morning
a heron keeps an overview in the dawn
where the orchestra of 1064
start slowly

The first choir members make themselves heard
the percussion has also been awakened
allowing front & rear doors to sound
car doors and a single bicycle bell also participate

The wind sighs, in its deep sleep
a few twigs move silently, back and forth

Then the heron raises its baton
the thistle nods
the white clovers start gently

Ooh dear, what was that…
the doubtful knight’s spur out of tune,
the violets help everything back on track

the shepherd’s purse makes the rapeseed rustle
the ground elder adds a jazzy note
and starts to swing, together with the wild hyacinth

the wind wakes up and allows
the last dandelion fluffs to dance along

the catchweed brings everything together for a conclusion
where the windflower and the arum
close off warmly

Now the throats have been lubricated,
the stems are flexible
and everything is firmly rooted
may the loving noon lake commence

Zatarra Rafaël

From the top down:

the nodding thistle
the shepherd’s purse and
the rapeseed
the catchweed

Cyanotypes by IJda Smits

April 18, 2023 Poems, Poetry, Publications

Online publication April 2023

In April 2023 I again participated in the poetry carousel of the Haarlemse Dichtlijn.

This time a poem by poet Diana Ozon as inspiration and start of the carousel.
My reaction to her poem: “the stongest,” as well as the reactions from all other poets, can be read for a while on the website of the Haarlemse Dichtlijn.

Again it has become an interesting carousel from various perspectives. Allow yourself to be inspired by all the poems, for as long as the publication is online.

For my poem, I asked myself:
“The strongest, what or who is that?”

You can find my poem here.

(Feather image created using AI. Prompt components of my poem).

July 17, 2020 News, Poems, Poetry

In Memory of MH17

Consciously aware
the wounds are still here, are still fresh and warm,
awaiting for enlightenment …

.
.
Sitting here
feeling the heat
of the still steaming wounds
in my face.

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