A collection of fifteen of my poems in a free e-book.

1. Fifteen Poems
A free e-book
by Arjan Tupan

2. I have always loved reading. Since mentioned blog, some freshly translated
childhood I devoured books, newspapers, from my native tongue: Dutch. All
magazines; and later of course blogs and accompanied by pictures I found fitting.
other treasures I could find on the web. I Pictures I made myself, to share the way I
am a big fan of stories. Epic or small; see the world.
concise. And from all that reading, came This e-book is my gift to you. You can
an urge to share my own stories as well. In download it and are free to share it if you
the form of blog posts, a short story, an so please, by sending it to a friend,
article, tweets, or poetry. Mainly I write for posting a link on facebook or twitter, or by
myself, or sometimes my muse. Even putting it on your site as a gift to your
though I publish some on my blog, it is visitors. I just hope you enjoy reading my
always more of a personal thing. And now, poems as much as I have enjoyed writing
it is time to share some of it in a different them.
way. In this e-book, you’ll find a selection
of my poems. Poems about love and daily Arjan Tupan,
life. Some already published on the afore Spring 2010
A Few Words To Begin With

3. A Promise Of Blueness
A clear blue sky.
Promise,
of a smooth ride ahead.
Everything seems
even more beautiful
than it is.
Clouds will come.
But the clear blueness
convinces us that
the mere drizzle will
just wash away
dust and dirt.
The storms of the past
to refreshing showers
reduced.
The blue clearness covers
and heals the wounds.
Life is great on the day
we are greeted by
the clear blue sky.
We enjoy it.
We cherish it.
We live it.
And we should.

4. Only 504 Kilometers Between Us
Darkness falls over the péage
As I head North.
Every roadmark tells me
I am moving further
away from you.
But each passing minute brings
the moment I see you again
closer.

5. Poetweet
Think, rethink, shuffle and reshuffle. Then summarize
and think again. A thought, a poem condensed to the
limit of 140 characters.

6. A Nomad I Am
I am a nomad, it's official now.
In a temporary place I live,
To move to the next place soon.
And after that another one,
Of which I know I'll leave it anyhow.
I enjoy being a nomad, I know now.
Moving from place to place,
Home to home, country to country.
Taking with me new experiences
along the way, new habits, new culture.
Always growing and learning somehow.
No more fixed places, the world
completely open.
Opportunities everywhere.
A nomad I am.

7. And then, just before we reach
the summit of our low climb,
the sweeping searchlight of
the Eiffel Tower signals our
return in the bright night sky.
We're home.
Holiday's over.
Back to work.
Our Rentrée

8. Beijing: An Attempted Haiku
Temples and hutongs
dragons and people abound.
Tea an oasis.

9. In The Air Again
A bed of fluffy clouds
stretches out below us
almost as far as the eye can see.
The sun makes me squint while
writing this.
Again I am on my way to Paris.
Planes having almost become
trams or buses for me.
Apart from the magnificent views
of landscapes quickly getting smaller,
mountain ranges becoming sand ripples
where sea touches land;
seas and oceans dotted with
pinprick sized boats; and
a fluffy bed of clouds,
stretching as far as I want to see.

10. Behind The Man In Front Of Me
The man who's crawling in front of me
is practicing his guitar playing.
My radio renders his sounds
inaudible to me and tells me
we're in eight kilometers of traffic jam.

11. Paris A Ghost Town
The dome of Les Invalides
catches the rising sun's rays,
The Champs Elysees still empty,
as is Paris plage.
Morning traffic flows easily
past quais and boulevards.
It's August,
Paris a ghost town.

12. The Miracle Of Flying
The miracle of flying
never seizes to amaze.
It starts out on the runway
with the gathering of pace.
And then, defying gravity
when the wheels lift off the ground;
climbing to cruise altitude
hearing the jets' powerful sound.
Breathtaking views from way up
where everything seems small:
the cities, lakes and mountains;
even the biggest wars of all.
Then to touch down back on earth
and make the amazement count.

13. Two swans on the Marne,
their offspring between them.
Watched from the boat by
champagne drinking partiers.
But actually, I see us,
in a little while.
You and I, our offspring between us,
wonderfully floating through life.
Marne Swans

14. Daddy Understands
Hello little big man, with your big smile,
your teeth coming through, your fluffy hair.
Yes, it is exactly as you say.
Let those crazy grown ups be,
they can babble and peek-a-boo all they want.
Daddy listens
and understands you better every day.

15. Untitled
I reached for the stars
and touched one.
The heat, cosy at first,
burned my hand.
But in the end
what remains is
that I touched a star.

16. Untitled
Their white bellies lit by the city lights, a flock of birds
passed by the clear evening sky last night
in perfect v-shaped waves.
Were they heralding spring
or fleeing today's snow?

17. Autumn In The Amsterdam Forest
Where our picknick basket stood this summer,
now lies a big puddle of mud.
The many playing and sunbathing
have yielded their space for the odd walker
in rain coat and ditto boots.
The ground is covered in leaves.
It is autumn, also in the Amsterdam Forest.

18. About Arjan and this book
Arjan Tupan is a Dutchman living in Riga. He is an amateur cook, traveller, reader, social media fanatic and self-proclaimed poet. He keeps a blog, called
A Clear Blue Sky, where he writes about living abroad, travelling, work, life in general and publishes his poetry. In professional life, Arjan is founder and
director of Who walks the Dog, a European Management Consultancy firm based in Latvia.
You can visit his blog at http://www.aclearbluesky.net, or follow Arjan on Twitter as @arjantupan.
As said in the few words beforehand, you are free to distribute this e-book at will, under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
The font used in this book is Junction Regular, designed by The League of Moveable Type - http://www.theleagueofmoveabletype.com/.