i.
I walk through the streets
of old Spandau
under a sky of slate and zinc
that lets loose its sleet
and drops of pale ink,
filled with burdened clouds
weary from hurrying onward
out of the iron east.

ii.
A church tower stands sentinel
watching over the people fleeing past
on cobbled streets paved with fate.

iii.
Once, to doubt was to believe
as Thomas, bereaved,
called out in awe
My Lord and my God.
Today there’s just doubts,
faith is fleeting as clouds.

iv.
The tower waits,
outwardly strong,
yet forlorn and alone,
abandoned by the faithful
as the sacred slips away.
It watches and waits
in hollow hope of a time
when its hallowed purpose
might yet be whole again.

Yesterday I took
A day off and drove
All the way to Berlin
A seven hours roadtrip
(Which I made in four)
Like the ones I used to do
Back when we were young
Just because you said that
There'd be some party and
It'd be cool if I showed up

Yesterday I walked
In the pouring rain
Around the Tiergarten
Like we did so many times
Because you were having
A tough day and wanted
To talk about it

Yesterday I've had
Some coffee in our old
Place in Prenzlauer Berg
And I swear that for a
Moment I could glance
Across that familiar table
Your emerald green eyes
And the wild flames of
Your red hair

I know it's kind of stupid
Keep coming to this place
Now that you're happily
Married and with children
Living half the world away
In America

But those memories are
The closest I'll ever be
Of seeing you again
And for that Berlin
Will forever have
A special place
In my heart

I hate seeing your face, I really do
You painted me like a landscape, green and blue
Green with envy, Blue and subdued
I still question, what I mean to you
I try not to let the abandonment issues win
I try to reimagine myself partying in Berlin
I miss the blaze of the blunt, the bass in the club
I miss the days when I felt enough
without anyone other than myself

'Happily Ever After'
on The Wall across
my home, Berlin
is my Berlin

Yet I leaf through
a travel magazine, the sea
beckons, the mountains call
echoes Action! Action!

A man smiles at me
We are angels, I give
him my fear, lend
him my room

I need to go, away
from alone, be more
than my work, promise
someone loyalty

Thank you for sharing
The best thing in your life
I have a good time
Even though you make me cry
And if I could go there
The place I want to
Hope we both can see
Baby coz I love you

young people
swallowed up by the night
sacramental in its significance.

the supply of drugs
picked clean by
the small hours of the morning.

that limitless darkness?
that was something
that had to be acquired
by osmosis
slowly, over the years.

she opened her mouth.

the luxury of a
detached state of mind
lingered in the air.

the emotion within her strangled any words.

come inside
into the night.

Excerpts from “Travels with Einstein”
by Michael R. Burch

for Trump

I went to Berlin to learn wisdom
from Adolph. The wild spittle flew
as he screamed at me, with great conviction:
“Please despise me! I look like a Jew!”

So I flew off to ’Nam to learn wisdom
from tall Yankees who cursed “yellow” foes.
“If we lose this small square,” they informed me,
earth’s nations will fall, dominoes!”

I then sat at Christ’s feet to learn wisdom,
but his Book, from its genesis to close,
said: “Men can enslave their own brothers!”
(I soon noticed he lacked any clothes.)

So I traveled to bright Tel Aviv
where great scholars with lofty IQs
informed me that (since I’m an Arab)
I’m unfit to lick dirt from their shoes.

At last, done with learning, I stumbled
to a well where the waters seemed sweet:
the mirage of American “justice.”
There I wept a real sea, in defeat.

Originally published by Café Dissensus

Keywords/Tags: Einstein, Adolph, ******, Berlin, Jew, Jews, Arab, Arabs, Palestinian, Palestinians, Vietnam, Vietnamese, American, Americans, Yankees, Domino, Theory, Dominoes, Jesus, Christ, Bible, Christian, Christianity, Slave, Slaves, Slavery, Israel, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv

We Will Meet Again (for Berlin, East and West)
They loved each other very much.
That was evident when they were parted.
Tears of grief when they were forced apart.
An act of devastation never to be forgotten.
Made by ungodly people with the power of God.
Those in charge didn't see the young couple.
Didn't witness their tears, hear their shouts.
Felt no emotion when they issued the order.
To build a wall to cut a city in half.
Separating families and loved ones.
A nation and city torn in two.
People trying to flee as the last brick was placed.
Escaping any way they could.
Risking their lives to dream a future.
Braving razor wire, guards with dogs and the guns.
Being mercilessly gunned down when seen.
And still they fled their prison city and country.
Doing anything to get across The Wall.
Hoping for a better future in The West.
Not being split in two like the couple.
She in The East, he in The West.
Prisoners of The Cold War for simply being German.
Caught in a game of nuclear chess.
Superpower madness where hope and love disintegrate.
Decades of mistrust and hate poisoning our world.
A generation with paranoid peace.
Trustful tyranny illuminating the way.
For decades some held onto their dream.
Then one cold Berlin day it happened.
The Wall fell down and hope blossomed.
Some couples were finally together.
Middle aged, no longer teenagers.
Hard and bitter, not joyous and free.
But together at last after so many years.
Reunited city and nation.
A world no longer severed in two.
Tears dry and history remembers.
Stories are told proving love will endure.

do me a favor aight
when you go switch off the lights

close the door behind
you

pay attention to the lock it
makes a sound pay attention

do me this favor
you gotta do it cause

shadows everywhere
voices everywhere
enemies everywhere

ain't no fun though as
gang colors in the nineties

tag watts
tag berlin
tag harlem

shadows everywhere
voices everywhere
enemies everywhere

for twentyseven years
do me a favor aight?

i've been looking for a brother
i've  been looking for a mother

nobody knows about it
they don't know and they
don't have to

when they interrogate you
about last night
when they ask tell em:

i was asleep at night
as civilians do

no talk about turf
no talk about extortion
no talk about capital crimes

private matters
wat matter is you
lock the door baby