Geke Maes (44) received the terrible news last summer that she was terminally ill. It was the reason for the Meppel native to make her ultimate dream come true, writing and publishing a collection of poems. “The circumstances made it all happen at an accelerated pace.”
Seven years ago, Geke had a malignant birthmark removed. She has been under supervision and everything seemed to be fine, until last summer she started having complaints, such as headaches. “It didn’t seem very serious at first, so you just put it down to stress and migraines.” But she had more and more complaints, had difficulty finding words, and pain in her legs.
“At the end of July, beginning of August I went to the hospital and was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma.” At that moment it was already in various places in her head and body. “I immediately got the message that I had to start making memories in the coming months.”
The bundle ‘Read me between the lines’, which has already been sold 1,100 times, was put together at high speed. “I had a lot of help with this. I expressed my wish in a group of ‘Instagram poets’. People who write poems on Instagram. They immediately indicated that they wanted to help me.”
Geke wants to leave something behind for her husband and three children, for example, because the people around her are also involved in the composition of the collection. “There are a number of poems that people around me have selected. There is a personal note to what I mean to them. That also makes it extra personal.”
The collection is a mix of special texts, but Geke certainly does not shy away from puns and plays. One of the poems in her collection goes as follows: If I no longer understand it, I escape. It may take some time before the penny drops, but this poem shows how Geke plays with language.