i met a man

it must be me

i met somebody

she said
she is nowhere
and everywhere
such as i thought

God was watching
over me when i
was a small child.
Her presence, she said

is the highest form
of love.
then what could mine
ever be?

she could say
all what she didn't want,
but not wanting
was her only way.

so who am i
to disturb these
calm circles
on the water?

me, i am a simple man
and i cannot grasp
detachment,
i need wood to burn

in my home
when it is cold
and a kiss
when i am ill.

it is not words
driving me away
but the lack of warmth
and my frozen skin.

God may allow her
to be as she is,
i will remember
her essence

which i tasted
as honey and vinegar
biting sweetly
in my soul

and nobody holds me,

so.

lost tenderness

wheresoever
now
these fragile colors
this pastel sky

only touches
lost softness
deep inside
hidden from teeth


a love
not reaching
me in touch but
lost in translation

not in my arms
but in outer space,
the air is thin
and the stars are cold

i cannot breathe
this presence
nor can i drink
this bitter tea

in the end
all there is are bubbles
glittering in the sun
one moment there
then gone

maybe
they don't wish
to be alone:
when they touch
they burst

i stay aground
my feet are there
to walk
until,
because.


Von meinem iPhone gesendet

Alef ,Wim Mertens

Cat in an empty apartment

Wisława Szymborska


Die—you can’t do that to a cat.
Since what can a cat do
in an empty apartment?
Climb the walls?
Rub up against the furniture?
Nothing seems different here
but nothing is the same.
Nothing’s been moved
but there’s more space.
And at nighttime no lamps are lit.

Footsteps on the staircase,
but they’re new ones.
The hand that puts fish on the saucer
has changed, too.

Something doesn’t start 
at its usual time.
Something doesn’t happen
as it should.
Someone was always, always here,
then suddenly disappeared
and stubbornly stays disappeared.

Every closet’s been examined.
Every shelf has been explored.
Excavations under the carpet turned up nothing.
A commandment was even broken:
papers scattered everywhere.
What remains to be done.
Just sleep and wait.

Just wait till he turns up,

just let him show his face.
Will he ever get a lesson
on what not to do to a cat.

Sidle toward him
as if unwilling
and ever so slow
on visibly offended paws,
and no leaps or squeals at least to start.

sleep and morning

this night was short

from two to half past five

i heard them half asleep

now i am out

in the morning breeze

the pink and blue light

and these songs of birds

i see i am alive

and i feel there will be

all these mornings

i will meet, me,

cat, horse, flowers

i am so much awake

and will not see you

next to me 

and the vanishing moon

to greet you in the smile

of your eye or mine

nor in the warmth

of my arm or yours

and sometimes

i will think of you

being so far away

as you have always been

then i will walk

into my day

wishing you well:

we all must fly