Poetry by Jan Diek van Mansvelt
Besides his scientific and agricultural work, Jan Diek van Mansvelt also wrote poetry. In his poems the same attention to nature, earth and human responsibility can be heard.
The texts invite the reader to pause and observe carefully — the same attitude that lies at the heart of his ideas on agriculture and development.
Lyrics and context
The first item is My Song for the Earth, expressing the connection between humanity and the earth.
What I sing is a song for the earth
Our earth concerns everyone
She is unique in the universe and so vulnerable
And she is there for all of us
That they destroy the earth everywhere
And do so above all with agriculture
That is indeed particularly shameful
Our greed destroys her completely
Our artificial fertilizers spoil the life in the soil
The crops do not thrive well
And then we also go on to give them poison
That spoils the environment and our blood.
Do you want to take responsibility yourself?
Then buy food only from farmers
Who practice agriculture with heart and soul
Soil fertility as number one.
Do you truly want to farm in a humane way?
Then hold the earth deep in your heart.
Always honor nature, plant and animal.
Love them with head, heart and hands!
A recording of the song can be viewed on the Media page.
The Moon
The moon is born of the evening sun;as he grows, he takes his light from her,
yet he grows away from her,
his unlit side behind him:
his will to live, slowly brought to light.
And when he comes to fullness, all at once it changes.
Then he is touched by the morning sun,
toward whom he has been bound from the beginning,
first in darkness, looking back, unknowing,
now fully illumined, wholly in the here and now.
As he then wanes, he grows more slender,
rises later, and becomes the morning moon.
Thus his task is gradually fulfilled.
And shining, filled with longing,
he goes as a crescent,
content, ascending
into the morning sun.
Until he, with renewed courage, delicately lit,
leaves the evening sun—his mother, the past—
to, weeks later,
wiser than before,
die within his father: the morning sun.
Spring Tide
Firm stands the diver,springing on the board,
looking down below
into the bottomless pool.
But alas, today it is closed.
If he dives now, he will break his neck.
The lifeguard is measuring the pool today;
it must meet new requirements,
he wishes nothing more than to comply.
So the diver stands alone upon the board.
His tension fades. He planned it wrong.
He did not listen well to his seasoned trainer,
and, full of diving zeal,
he overlooked the state of the pool.
The lifeguard would gladly have helped the diver:
his fine, deep diving pool is not there for nothing.
Only: it is not always warm and open.
Sometimes, unforeseen, something is amiss.
The diver, too, is often moody or full of fears.
Sometimes he will, sometimes he will not.
Then the pool lies there, lonely and deserted,
and the lifeguard firmly closes the lid.
From below and from above there is longing:
the pool wishes to be full, and the diver deep.
Let both be guided by love,
setting aside self-interest, time and again, for a while.
Feel together, seated safely on the pool’s edge,
when it is high tide,
yearning for fulfillment,
fulfillment in embrace.
Until the tide ebbs away again,
in the happiness of pool and diver,
trainer and lifeguard,
working together in love,
together strong.
Do Not Despair
Deep within you,
in the core of your heart,
in the marrow of your bones,
lives a divine spark
that cannot be extinguished.
You may cover it again and again
with many things.
Yet patiently it waits
until you allow it
to live in your soul.