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Prompt:
write a poem that plays with the idea of a “tall tale.”
Pre-note:
Many people call my country Holland.
It’s nickname for my country used by football supporters.
Holland doesn’t exist.
We have two counties with Holland in the name: North-Holland, and South-Holland, but that’s it.
The country is called: The Netherlands. That means: Low lands.
Gerrit
or
Behind the dyke
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Most of you will know the story of the boy
who put his finger in one of the dykes
and saved my country from flooding.
I have never met him.
But……
I have met Gerrit van Vliet,
He was a descendant of an age old breed,
living in the country, in fact living on clay.
Those are the strongest, many people say.
Gerrit saw the water rising up high.
He knew that could happen, he didn’t ask why.
We Dutch live on lower grounds,
so we always observe our water surrounds.
The water went high, and higher still,
Gerrit already felt a huge inner thrill,
He was needed, he knew, not for harvest or plow,
not tomorrow, but here and now.
The water! It reached the top of the dyke,
Gerrit warned the family, called on the neighbours, all on his bike.
Inspected the cows, got the sheep from the dyke.
He cared for humans and animals alike.
“Protection”, he thought, “don’t let the cattle get wet feet,
they need to stay higher, yes, height is what they need.”
He dug out the ditch, the sand formed a hill.
He put the cows on it, then went to the mill.
He turned the sails in the wind, gave the beam a jerk,
that way he made the mill pump water, so put it to work.
Gerrit looked around and didn’t take any rest,
To see the water rising made him feel very stressed.
He looked to the clouds, yes, he looked to the sky,
and had the worrying thought: “We won’t keep it dry.”
With immense speed and superpower,
Gerrit did what was needed: He rang the bell in the tower,
Gathered strong men, who were also very brave,
who wanted to work during the night to keep the country safe.
They put on the dykes lots of stones and bags with sand,
so the water would know it had been perfectly banned.
Then he went to the shore, stood in the raging storm.
He knew intuitively what he had to perform.
We Dutch have dykes, but superimposed,
are the waterbarriers. They were not completely closed!!
Gerrit pulled up his trousers, roled up the sleeves of his shirt
and put on a more than olympic fast spurt.
He stopped for a large wall of steel.
I tell you this as a story, but for him it was real.
He saw the steel wall which was larger than a church,
He took on a firm stand and gave it a lurge,
heaved it high and walked with it to the harbour so calm,
like he had a little bird on his arm.
He reached the open barrier and saw the water so black.
Right in the middle he put the wall, with a tremendous wack,
so it would sink deep on the bottom of the sea,
and keep The Netherlands from water free.
This is the story of a man with insight and power,
Who cared for the people, animals and even the small flower,
he saw when he walked back content and tired.
The people stayed safe, and he was admired.
He got decorated by the King,
On a sunny day in early spring.
This is the story of Gerrit van Vliet,
who created later his own strong breed,
Who lived happy and safe behind the dyke
and often took a ride on his bike.
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