Berlin
Lets me be

Have it all
And agrees

Granting
All my quirks

All bits of me;

Berlin
Trains me

Inspirits my soul

To be loyal
Become faithful

To my
Nature.

The pace
Sets the tone
The hours
Are long

I am one
At extremes
And I am
Prime
in Berlin.

Every street
Has a story
Each corner
Its deep music

I leave my own trace
This unrivaled city
I embrace
Here, I belong, Berlin
Morning till dawn.

Where I want to go
There are no shortcuts on the road
I cannot run a red light
At times, I am even forced
To take a few steps back.

Where I want to go
A dream place I already saw
The way is tedious and hard
The destination always seems so far.

Where I want to go
There are directions to follow
And though I might take longer
I am sure to make it on my own.

Where I want to go
There are no shortcuts
So many traps and holes
Yet each step and misstep
Still bring me closer to my goal.

I do not wish to reduplicate
From you and the past
I want to break
However, I reckon
Unconsciously
I am attracted
To the same facets
Persistently.

All I have been inclined to
The last couple of months
Is stop being reminded of you
But what seems to
Entice me
Bits and pieces of you
In another individual
I see.

How can I start anew
When deep in my heart
All I still desire is you
My heart
Set on ice and fire
Is history
Then why am I doing
A photocopy.

It is not deliberate
But what seduces me  
Are colors of a similar palette
How am I to let go
If still submerged in shadow
Though I know it is another person
Am I following
An identical pattern.

Did I reveal
Too much too soon
Safe and comfortable
I felt immune
To nonsense
And mind games
To make-believe
And withholding

On my best behavior
When I gathered
I could be much more
Myself, dear friend
Will you still like me then?

And all of a sudden
I am twenty-two again
Transported to a time
When I had no idea
What I was doing
Incessantly figuring out
Where my life was going.
In that state of in-between
It was only in the time being
Prompt to recreate
Get myself to think straight
And once I was ready
I would leave this phase
Desist from meandering
Find a way back to the race.
Never would I have imagined
Just like that
A mundane monday night
The second I caught you
You glancing at me
I knew on the spot
That nothing will ever be
The same again for me.
Complex enough as it were
You had to mess with my scheme
Had to worm your way into
My heart, thinking for two.
Long I had thought
How jarring it was
The worst timing of all
A year to take care of myself
And I did not comprehend
How any of this could help.
But that special spot you held
Now looking back
In hindsight
Glad I took the chance
You were probably the best thing
That could ever happen
You loved me at my worst
Already then saw in me
What I always wanted to be.
Fast-forward to the present
Five years later
Five years of rigor
Meanwhile
Creating the me
The one you were certain
I was one day going to be
Now on other sides
Living parallel lives
Just like that, life happens
Another one is your wife.
But there are occasions
The present is put on pause
Just like that
The past is back on track
Neither bitter nor morose
Just a star in the cosmos.
In love there is no timing
It is a plan of no free will
A moment never-ending
We shared nothing but the truth
We came to love each other
Like we were destined
To shortly change one another.
Today I am just relieved
To know that I also meant
Something to you
That at one point in time
I was also everything to you.
It is only after
Once the story is over
That you figure out
All absolute things
Anything in life at all
Has its reasons
Because it takes only a second
Just like that, that life happens
And the gratitude
That it even happened at all.

Her hands are freezing
Her soul is shaking
Is it because it's so cold
Or that racing heart that unfolds

The tension gets thicker
She nervously dithers
Is this really happening
As snowflakes start falling

He takes her lips
They kiss so deep
Under the lamplight
Lovers steal the spotlight

Wrapped in tight embrace
His caress is her fireplace
Under the burning glow
At temperature below zero

An eternal moment right there
All dissolves into thin air
She doesn't notice time just flew
He is her dream come true

They're kissing in the snow
He melts into her shadow
She gives her heart of gold
Love's a flame in the cold.

Lest we forget
The moment we sat
The sun was down
But expectations were met.
We need not stretch so hard
Laughed and talked
As if we already knew
That we were on the same card.

First impressions count
It is the stepping stone
The one of many
Of journeys that bounce.
Assured they will last
That what I think of you now
Will only get better
In time, they will just adjust.  

What lovely miscalculation
Some perfect first meetings
Deceptive they will seem
A way to digression.
Baffled to be so wrong
Chemistry was on spot
So what a shock it will be
Not listening to the same song.

Then it is a two-way street
First impressions are key
But especially when they are not
It is no reason to be stuck.
Lest we forget, it is what we build
That is the momentum of thrills
Through the course of time
For the last impression is the one that lasts.

These two people
Smile in love
The same way we do.

A bruised knee
Hurts as much
For a Muslim as for a Jew.

I will laugh
If something is funny
Whether I am Christian or agnostic

And anywhere in the world
The baby will cry
Whenever it is hungry.

Hug your family and friends
Every occasion that you get.

In the end,

God speaks to us all
In the same language.

I cannot write anymore
The music I hear
Is the one they play
In elevators;
The one they believe
That makes slow steps go faster
The one they pretend
Will make a broken heart
More bearable.

I would rather listen to
A voice that has the courage to
Say something that is sincere
The thing that would validate
Even just one of my tears

That what I have to brave through
Somehow is still worth
Me writing
The end of the book

Because at one point in time
Your eyes met mine
And not acknowledging a goodbye
I cannot help but hum
What a coward way to go out.

It is the bridge
Between
Now and forever
The bridge of fear
And are we crossing over?
It is the bridge between
Possibility and doubt
Will we stay stuck
Or are we willing to try?
It is the bridge between
Who we are and
What we could be
Will the distance
Abide
Or will it be us
Eventually?
Are we ready
To venture
Cross this bridge
To our future?
Hold me tight
Let us take a chance
And bridge the gap
I am inclined
If you are
To cross the bridge
That leads to
You and I.

There was a time
I was able to separate
Had the skill in every state
In which
I could kiss and tell
Whether it was heartfelt.

There was a time
I could differentiate
Some were for fun
And others fate
Detached from emotion
Not all meant deep affection.

Then you came along
Neither for the thrill
Nor for the long haul
And it had been a while
Since I had that much
Fun and Confusion.

Doubted my head
Once I realized
That our kisses
Were heating up
With the unsaid
Was it fun or fate.

No longer could I separate
My heart had to migrate
Impossible to tell apart
Our kisses had to have a heart

And I was certain again

What a stellar feeling
To feel again, like a human being.

Sometimes it is what we anticipate
The memories we already create
It is so brilliant before it happens
Certain of a tragedy in the end.

Sometimes it is emotions that saunter
The imaginative mind that wanders
Nurturing different expectations
Feeding the soul with specific visions.

Maybe it is the moments that precede
The dreams and the hopes that are still unclear
That will determine the growth of the seed

Maybe it is the joyous thought or pain
That will make a situation that way
Because are we ever shocked if it rains?

Propelled to
Another time

Sparked off

By a sound
The song
Played
In the background

Stirred up
Shadows
Digging up
Old photos

A whiff of perfume
Sends
My memories
In fume

Swallowing
Moments past
Each time
I taste that pie

Another pats me
The same way
Calling to mind
What you used to say;

Some things
Become off limits
Affluent in
Stories
Spots in the
Ordinary
Transformed
Into
A minefield

Memories have
A way to ****
The present day
Dragged downhill

Then at times
I wonder
Why things I love
Are marred

Not everywhere
You left a mark
It is I that
Allowed you
To linger
In my light

Connecting dots
When there are none
Connecting dots
That do not belong

I cease to be
Far-fetched
Some settings
Are not affixed

Here I am
Once again
In front of
The same same

But I beam

For the best
Way to get rid of
Memories
Is to create
New ones

That only I
Get to freeze.

Empty streets
Two souls
Filled with memories
Of the past
Our past ;
We have walked these streets before
Young and in love
Our entire lives ahead of us.
We knew everything back then
Until time taught us
Doubt everything.
I see these words for the first time
Though they have always been here
Long before my love of words,
I found.

Empty streets
A poetry reading
We have been here before
Why are we here once more ?

This is the place
Where hearts reunite
And others are torn apart.
Here searching
For a face in the mass
While others wave adieu
Through the thick window glass.
Finally when eyes meet
Their smile is so bright
But others will turn the corner
Clutching to one last sight.
Welcoming you with flowers
I will miss you, I murmur --
A place of contrast
Feelings digress
While others grow steadfast.
In those tears of joy
Or heart-rending turmoil,
Whether you are coming in
Or it is me that is flying
Hugs feel the same
Because honesty
They both exclaim.
Hellos and Goodbyes
Our life is never on standby
It will always sting
When someone you love is leaving.
And like the glow of fireflies,
It is always a piece of paradise
To see you arriving.

It must be rash
To compare and contrast
What should always be deemed
Unmatched and supreme.

But you raised the bar
Putting me behind bars
A slave to your sound
Captive and spellbound.

All at my behest
Providing me with the best
How can it be topped
Relinquished or stopped.

Now you have set the tone
Your love, a class of its own
Nobody comes close
Foreign or heroes.

Becoming my benchmark
Made it hopeless to embark
On any new adventure
My soul is already captured.

Prevail as my standard
My own version of Harvard
I will wait until you return
My heart will always be enamored.

I am true to my word
Except when it comes to us

I mean when I say
Yes and no mean the same.

I need you to leave
Go ape once I put it to ink

Thinking I will never kiss those lips
See that smile of his.

I am weak
Because you make me strong

I push you away
Because all this is wrong.

It is for the best
I feel worse once said

Back and forth
My words lose their worth

I promise I do not love you
I don't, I don't.

I am not the kind to hold a grudge
Especially if I know on some level
It is a bullet I am supposed to dodge

You were probably joking
So it is weird for me to insist
That your words were upsetting

Maybe I am reading too much into this
But were you not just pointing out
That bits and pieces of me are a tease

I would understand if others bantered
But coming from you, my friend
On this subject, your attitude tortured

Not very fond of sarcasm
And making me an object of ridicule
Specially from you, is so seldom

Pardon me if I snapped
For the damage that it caused me
Is something I cannot drop

It stings because it is you
For behind every joke
There's a tad bit truth

Now I muse on what is worse
That I think you meant it
Or you do not realize it hurts

Today I walked past the house
The one of my dreams
The one that could have been ours.
It was always my first choice
But fate decided otherwise
Just another dream I had to toss.

Now other people are living there
Here goggling from across the street
I caught sight of their love and chairs.
They have made it their own
Coming back to it each night
The beautiful house they now call home.

I came to realize that I mourned
How hard it is to let go
Of something that was never yours.
Although in my heart of hearts
I once wished to call you mine
All I am always left with is hurt.

Today I walked past the house
The only one I dream of
The one that could have been ours.
In another lifetime perhaps
What belongs to me shall find me
And destiny will not set any traps.