Herman van Veen

Ran into someone at the market lately
who looked at me in surprise.
'Do you still exist?'
I was tempted to turn away.
We started talking.
The man had seen me at the theater
back in the sixties.
He had emigrated once
but returned to the Netherlands
to be buried in Utrecht when the time came.

I told him
that besides genetic luck,
singing
probably helped ensure
that I can still perform
about a hundred and forty shows a year
with heart and soul.
Of course things creak here and there
and I don't jump as high
as I did at seventy-eight.

So yes sir
I'm still here.
And if it's up to me
still
for much longer yet.

-Herman van Veen

Website: Herman van Veen