Eighteen young Flemish and Dutch authors have taken inspiration from seventeenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum. Looking at these objects, what eureka moments do they see? Femke Zwiep has written a poem in response to a balance standard with a counterweight from the workshop of Wenzel Jamnitzer. ‘I give value to everything I touch’

Attributed to the workshop of Wenzel Jamnitzer, Balance standard with a counterweight, ca. 1560 – ca. 1570 © Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Brilliant

the promise and I know each other through and through
I give value to everything I touch

my work is independent/impartial/incorruptible/flawless/professional
I can tell if a facet has been processed
polished
first rough
then radiant

the chorus meanwhile sings a stirring song
that really loves to weave itself through time

in the best story I have written
you have reached your lowest point
I tell it often and I tell it well
so it starts to have a shape
you’re wearing a magnificent suit
bell bottoms, diamantes and lip
everybody hangs on your every word
you sound so wise, believe you me

a thumb pricks a hole in the centre of the earth
sunny-side-up gone wrong
gold streams through the rivers
erodes the landscape
bleeds out dries up turns curse

my movements are vertical
I have nothing to do with the horizon
I work blindfolded

but now and again I imagine the tide, turning, the sea
a piece of fabric folded by two large hands
held up and suspended in the sky

grey-blue firmament reflecting the light so brightly
everybody understands
this is the end, or something a lot like it

I am hoping for a celestial body that’s kept track of the score
and will in turn supersede the sea

sure I aimed for your forehead but didn’t know it would affect you so
sorry if it affects you so

was I steady in my wavering too?

when I rest my arms on the ground everything weighs as much as anything
when I rest my arms on the ground everything weighs as much as anything