no hard feeling

she took one look at me
then shifted her gaze
and started ringing in my purchase

i was not worth a 'hello'
she spared for everyone else

i paid her the 20 Euro
she didn't say thank you
not to mention
the "have a nice day' routine

she spared that for the others
even that one who paid 2 Euro 45 Cents
behind me
as if my 20 Euro is worth a lot less
just because she thought
i'm just another
stupid, dirty, cheap, poor
immigrant

welcome to ALDI Sued
by the side street of Leipziger Strasse
Frankfurt am Main
Germany
where at night
the pavement smells like pee
literally

Welcome to the new daily reality.

sadness

TV
radio
internet
news

brought so much
fear
terror
fires
rockets
water
quakes

sadness

the sadness of
an elderly Japanese man
standing in the middle of rubbles
millions of emotions knotted inside his gut
as he bowed his head
tears in his eyes
sobs escaped his lips
as the fear for the worst overcame him
as his world shook
and shook
and shook
and shook
for the zillionth times

utter sadness
to see
the smiling, stoic faces I still somehow have in my head
bowed down
with fear
worries
traumas
being unsure of the future
to see the tears

sadness

and of all the things I've seen
I simply couldn't shake
the image
of
the old man
sobbing

sadness

here is the candle

here is the candle
you go light the fire

here is the candle
take out the match and strike the spark

here is the candle
for dawn is not yet there
and your path is yet in the dark

here is the candle
find your spark

for you
and you alone

can light
your own candle
and find
your own way

perspectives

tell me again

what
did
you
say

did i hear you correctly

did
you
just
say
what
i
thought
you
said

did you seriously just ask me
not to love her less
when the request should have been
for me
not to hate you

in what twisted version of reality
did you think we coexist

you
and all
your self righteousness

me
and all the realization
that i owed you nothing

through all my life
all that mattered
had been
paying my debts to you

but i owed you nothing
nothing
at
all

sana'a - darmstadt, march 2011

unanswered

the answer
provoked
more
questions

maybe the first
shouldn't have been
asked
at
all

there comes a time
when wondering
whether a life
of guessing the answers
is indeed
better
than a life
of questioning

or whether

one is as bad
as
the other

then
your life
becomes
the biggest
question
of all
time

sana'a - darmstadt, march 2011