tame birds 

sing of freedom

wild birds fly

November

Erinnerung

Und du wartest, erwartest das Eine,

das dein Leben unendlich vermehrt;

das Mächtige, Ungemeine,

das Erwachen der Steine,

Tiefen, dir zugekehrt.

Es dämmern im Bücherständer

die Bände in Gold und Braun;

und du denkst an durchfahrene Länder,

an Bilder, an die Gewänder

wiederverlorener Fraun.

Und da weisst du auf einmal: das war es.

Du erhebst dich, und vor dir steht

eines vergangenen Jahres

Angst und Gestalt und Gebet.

(R.M. Rilke)

Correction

The burdens of the world

on my back

lighten the world

not a whit while

removing them greatly

decreases my specific

gravity

(A. R. Ammons)

Roots & Wings....

Frau Welt

Ich bin

zur Welt

gekommen

und bin nun

endlich so weit 

laut

zu fragen

wie ich

dazukomme

zu ihr zu kommen 

Sie kommt

und sagt leise:

Du kommst nicht

du bist schon

im Gehen

(Erich Fried)

Now I become myself

Now I become myself. It's taken 

Time, many years and places;

I have been dissolved and shaken,

Worn other people's faces,

Run madly, as if Time were there,

Terribly old, crying a warning,

"Hurry, you will be dead before--"

(What? Before you reach the morning?

Or the end of the poem is clear?

Or love safe in the walled city?)

Now to stand still, to be here,

Feel my own weight and density!

The black shadow on the paper

Is my hand; the shadow of a word

As thought shapes the shaper

Falls heavy on the page, is heard.

All fuses now, falls into place

From wish to action, word to silence,

My work, my love, my time, my face

Gathered into one intense

Gesture of growing like a plant.

As slowly as the ripening fruit

Fertile, detached, and always spent,

Falls but does not exhaust the root,

So all the poem is, can give,

Grows in me to become the song,

Made so and rooted by love.

Now there is time and Time is young.

O, in this single hour I live

All of myself and do not move.

I, the pursued, who madly ran,

Stand still, stand still, and stop the sun!

    (May Sarton)

es geschehen dinge, die sind wie fragen. 

sekunden vergehen oder jahre, und das leben antwortet.

(alessandro baricco)

Home....

Falkenflug

Und meine Falten künden mir vom Leben,

mein Lachen, festgesetzt um meine Augen.

Und Spuren mancher bittren Stunde

umgeben meinen Mund.

So ist es und ich änder`s nicht.

So will ich leben, ganz wie mich das Leben wollte,

aus einem mir tief ungewussten Grunde.

Und so will ich das Wissen weitergeben,

so zeig ich mich und muss mich nicht verstecken,

vielfältig zeigt sich mein Gesicht.

(Ingrid Olbricht)

Alles was ich hab

I like the way you survive

just keep blowing 

at that pretty blue flame 

that's burning you alive

Self Portrait

It doesn't interest me if there is one God

or many gods.

I want to know if you belong or feel

abandoned.

If you know despair or can see it in others.

I want to know

if you are prepared to live in the world

with its harsh need

to change you. If you can look back

with firm eyes

saying this is where I stand. I want to know

if you know

how to melt into that fierce heat of living

falling toward

the center of your longing. I want to know

if you are willing

to live, day by day, with the consequence of love

and the bitter

unwanted passion of your sure defeat.

I have heard, in that fierce embrace, even

the gods speak of God.

(David Whyte)

Phenomenal woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size 

But when I start to tell them,

They think I'm telling lies.

I say,

It's in the reach of my arms,

The span of my hips, 

The stride of my step, 

The curl of my lips. 

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman, 

That's me.

I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please, 

And to a man,

The fellows stand or

Fall down on their knees. 

Then they swarm around me,

A hive of honey bees. 

I say,

It's the fire in my eyes, 

And the flash of my teeth, 

The swing in my waist, 

And the joy in my feet. 

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

Men themselves have wondered 

What they see in me.

They try so much

But they can't touch

My inner mystery.

When I try to show them, 

They say they still can't see. 

I say,

It's in the arch of my back, 

The sun of my smile,

The ride of my breasts,

The grace of my style.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

Now you understand

Just why my head's not bowed. 

I don't shout or jump about

Or have to talk real loud. 

When you see me passing,

It ought to make you proud.

I say,

It's in the click of my heels, 

The bend of my hair, 

The palm of my hand, 

The need for my care. 

'Cause I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

(Maya Angelou)

last november

Nicht für die Welt

Nicht für Gott

Nicht für das Paradies

und nicht für die Menschheit

Nur eine Handvoll Träumer

Keine Illusionisten

Keine Fantasten

sondern einfache Menschen

die plötzlich hier und jetzt

und heute sagen

sich auf die Strasse stellen

und schlicht behaupten:

Mit mir nicht, meine Herren

(Konstantin Wecker)

Gedichte

Was aber finden wir vor,

verurteilt und fremd,

und wonach suchen wir,

trauernd,

in unseren Hoffnungsgedichten,

den empfindsamen Spielen,

Ablichtungen.

So mauern wir Bunker,

zu überleben,

und schreiben uns

frierend

über den Winter.

Gedichte

wie Leuchtfeuer an Land,

wie Botschaften einer anderen Kultur,

Pflugschar,

brechend den Boden,

Gedichte wie Furchen,

in denen Saat aufgeht.

(Wolfgang Bittner)

Your catfish friend

If I were to live my life

in catfish forms

in scaffolds of skin and whiskers

at the bottom of a pond

and you were to come by

one evening

when the moon was shining

down into my dark home

and stand there at the edge

of my affection

and think, "It's beautiful

here by this pond. I wish

somebody loved me,"

I'd love you and be your catfish

friend and drive such lonely

thoughts from your mind

and suddenly you would be

at peace,

and ask yourself, "I wonder

if there are any catfish

in this pond? It seems like

a perfect place for them."

(Richard Brautigan)

Wärst du mein Freund gewesen

wir hätten unsere Fehler verziehen

hätten geschwiegen zu unserer Zeit

und gewartet aufeinander mit Geduld

aber wir haben Liebe gesagt

(Irene Kabanyi)