Oooh
First a letter, than a word,
a sentence forms before you know it.
Your story has begun and now
you know how you can grow it.
It’s Up to You
If everything changes as of now
and nothing stays the way it is,
will you say: ‘Ah, whatever.
I won’t lose any sleep over this.’
Will you think: ‘Let change just come.
I really couldn’t care less.
Instead of me, robots will work,
providing money, health and happiness.’
Or do you see it differently now
that there are things you want to do?
Wondering if you’ll have a future
in a world that still has room for you.
Here for you
You’re very welcome on this bench.
Have a seat, it’s here for you!
You can whisper, talk or sing.
But you can sit in silence too.
Thys Wadman
(translation: David Colmer)
About the bench
Machiel Braaksma: “The municipality of Súdwest-Frysân suggested creating a poetry bench for children, which writer Thys Wadman and I brainstormed on. Thys suggested a situation with a question and answer so that the bench would have an active function. I started to associate with that, and that’s how I came across the idea for a kind of ring. Like a portal into another world, Alice in Wonderland and also the letter ‘O’ in shape. ‘O’ can also be an answer to a question. Searching further, I came across ‘Oooh’. That’s wonderful, because it has multiple meanings with extremes: wonder, amazement, resignation, enthusiasm, compassion, indignation, etc. That’s how an ‘Oooh’ came to life. Separate from the paper or from a thought. A large letter ‘O’ is a hollow or train compartment through which you can look from your own child’s world to the world outside. And the letter ‘h’ is actually a bench. The letters can be anything. Is the big ‘O’ a mother holding a twin: ‘o’, together with a brother or sister ‘h’? Is it ‘hear, see, be silent’? With the ‘h’ for hear, the two small ‘o’s as eyes and the big open ‘O’ as the inside of a head with ‘silence’? Is ‘Oooh’ a train, a carriage or wonderful letter beast? It is all possible. Thys takes the children along on a relaxed and playful way in 3 poems, that let them fantasize and wonder.”
About the makers
Poet | Thys Wadman (1956) worked for 42 years as teacher and principal in primary education. During the development of the Frisian language teaching method ‘Studio F’ he started writing poems and stories for children. He won the Simke Kloosterman Prize in 2013 with the storybook De oerwinnings fan Tido Houtsma (the victories of Tido Houtsma). His book In nije heit (a new dad) was included on the IBBY Honor List. Now that he is retired, he is often involved in writing song lyrics, stories and poems for children and adults. He also published De Fûgelklup, De bisteboel fan Omke Roel, De Hûneklup, Jorrit en Philo begjinne in klup, Nee hast, yes kinst krije…, and Heity! Help! He also wrote a book about his father in 1997, Anne Wadman (1919-1997).
Visual artist | With a lightly Dadaist slant, Machiel Braaksma takes objects out of daily life, with which he creates new images and situations which are funny, moving or confusing and nuance or comment on life. He chooses things from everyday life, reassembles them and creates new pieces. Braaksma says about his work: ‘I put everything in the wrong order in the ‘right’ way. What I want from my work is that it’s original, unmistakable and that it has longevity. I’m looking for resilient, sturdy objects that can unashamedly be themselves yet engaging. Images with an exuberant integrity and a shameless, inner beauty.’
With thanks to
Provincie Fryslân, Gemeente Súdwest-Fryslân, Walter Baas, Blowups Reclame objecten BV Heijen
Photo: Hoge Noorden | Jacob van Essen