i know rafael does not like
that people describe his art
but i think it is useful
to give it some context
because its value to humanity
can easily be missed.

rafael’s art transcends
any form of reality we are in
allowing our mind
to instantly go in another place,
and he does this
using only few simple shapes
in the most simple animation.

this allows us
to be something else
for few precious seconds
which is more than enough.

no one ever
in the history of humanity
was able to achieve so much
with so little.

maybe i sound like i did lsd
but i did not.

i wrote a lot of poems about rafael
and a lot of poems about death
but not so many about rafael and death.
finally rafael called me to ask me
about my father’s death
and it gave me an idea this poem
about rafael and death.
thank you rafael.

miltos is a level three villain
in the art video game.
you need to beat him
to reach level four.
there are seventy six levels.
i am still at level two.
rafael is level forty two.
my kids are level one.

On a dark day
With blue skies
And a shadowy moon

A hero of unsung strength
Has entered a Dutch town
And forever changed our reality

His face was flat
And feet were yellow
And his name is Rafael Rozendaal

But he is none other
Than a digital artist
Who believed in equal rights of paper

He entered in a discussion
Against an evil lord
Another digital artist whom I shall not name

This lord was selling a prophecy
That paper has ended
And only digital will be craved

And our hero Rafael
Was challenged and scared
For a moment shorter than a fart

But his superior heroic brain
Calculated a reply which buried
Any hope the evil lord cherished

Rafael asked the lord
What does he have on his walls:
Paper or digital?

At that historic moment
A black hole of desperation
Ate the last atom of evil lord’s hope

As he understood
That he was lying to himself
All these wins

It was clear
To all those who have a decent brain
That Rafael won

And that paper and digital
As an art form
Are equal

Thus was concluded
The great battle of digital artists
And new era started

It is an era of
Tasty hamburgers with lots of onions
And electric cars that smell like shampoo

An era which is created and protected
By our unsung hero
Rafael Rozendaal

behind every act
there is a wish
and rafael’s wish
is that we can all have fun
while robots serve us.

rafael makes art for
year ten thousand
which makes no sense today
which is why
it is so important today.

rafael is from the future
tell us what we can become
if we do not blow ourselves up
in a nuclear war.

i agreed with austin lee
to write a poem about him
in exchange for his portrait
of my family.

i am not sure
if it is a fair bargain
because the poem will be
only about him
and i will be
only one of the five people
in the portrait.

it would be fair
if my three kids and my girlfriend
would also write poems about him,
or if all of us would write together
a poem about him.

but life is not fair
and it will only get worst from now on
and we learn to roll with the punches
and one of the most important things in life are friends
and i hope austin lee will be my friend
just like rafael rozendaal is,
and wyne veen, and angelo plessas.
because compounding benefits of friendship
are transgenerational
and that is why i made this investment
in an austin lee poem
because that is the only thing i care about today
is my kids friendships in two thousand fifty.

i hope that you are realizing
the consequences.
you are losing
the only real artist
who looked on you
as a potential equal.
i was wrong doing so
and I will never do this mistake again.
enjoy the rest of your career.

you are a
very smart
very hardworking
very talented
very dutch boy

this book shows
that very early
you have discovered
a working system

is it worth
dedicating
your life
to this
or any system

or should you go
where no dutch boy
has gone before

almost
as good
as my
poetry

brian visited me and one day
we ate so much meat
rafael was there as well
it was so much that we all felt dizzy
as soon as i parked i fell down in the mud and trash
and fell asleep
rafael fell next to me
i dont know how brian could go around
and take photos but he did

miltos manetas
mike calvert
rafael rozendaal
jimmy hendrix
george bush
nikola tesla
frodo baggins
donald duck
totoro
ponyo

a child in a man’s body
or a man in a child’s body
is the question now
but he has big ears
and is surely a fine lad
hooray!