the night in which
the dead come alive for a while

only to be frightened
right back into their graves
by the horrible masked spectacles
of the living

the media endlessly repeat
a video with a white police officer
kneeling on a handcuffed black guy
who keeps saying “I can’t breathe”
until he dies

******* of violence
of the worst kind
makes you feel guilty
     like a ******
both repelled and fascinated

racist ****** perpetrated
     blatant
     in full sight
by one whose badge claims
he protect you from harm

outrageous

of love I sing
of music it can make
   on strings of joy
   tuned to your melody

of how it touches keys
whose resonance reverberates
in unknown caverns
of the soul
   lit by a sudden harmony
as flighty
   and as delicate
as humming birds
   buzz through your vision
at summer dusk

and as persistent
in their imprint
on your inner eye

as that of four swans
rising in a line
towards the morning sun
above a misty pond
long years ago
when you were wandering
   by yourself
and questioning
the wisdom of the world
and of your almost
thirty years

wisdom still
does not go unquestioned
   love remains
the beauty of that moment
   grows

supposedly
the competition
of the world's best soccer teams

has become
        very deplorably
a plaything of global politics

bad carma

a special month, it seems,
when poetry is celebrated
by people near and far

it makes them feel so good
that they forget about it
for the other 11 months of the year

how do I know
if words that clog my throat
and finally spew out
are worthy to be read?

how do I know
whether my thoughts
arrive as I have meant them

survive the transition
from notions
  into words?

though I was happy
   I did forbidden things

though I did forbidden things
   I was happy

women need men like fish need bicycles

I do enjoy to stretch my legs
upon the couch
watch TV, listen to the radio
make lists of things to do
on the next day
or read some book or magazine

I  wonder sometimes
    just a little bit
about achievements of the day

and also
for how long
this routine might continue

cannot use my fingers
as I used to

cannot move my hand
as I used to

cannot use my legs
as I used to

cannot walk the stairs
as I used to

guess I am

getting old

fire magic

that lovels night
     when suddenly
you put your hand upon my knee
and later snuggled up under
my paw around your shoulder
a gentle flame sprang into life
from dormant embers

when afterward the two of us
were rocking to a softer tune
than music would us have
     (we never made it
      to the dancing floor)
the brilliance of your eyes
shone through your flying hair
     the flame leaped high
      and built a wall
      hard but transparent

completeness was
          within

I wish you all
most pleasant days
   no matter what the virus says

and thank you
for your kind support
     now over several years
of my assorted verse
which can at times be very terse
and maybe disappoint your expectations

it's just that recently more often
    instead that politicians soften
    their people's usual competing claims
there come these guy who obviously aim
to sow divisiveness for their own good
      something no politician should
and then blame others for their oversights

such blatant attitude my ire lights
I then may harshly
     maybe unpoetically
let my opinion on the topic fly
'cause I believe
that poets should be anything but shy
and throw the power of their words
behind good causes

so far, dissenting voices have been few
discussions I enjoy  and always do
engage in them if the exchange of views
strolls not too far from fact-based arguments

And between all the daily politics
I often try to stop the ticks
that measure calculable time
try to find words for things sublime
that go beyond the noises of the day
find meaning not in what
     but how they speak
in vivid images try to present
     life's clearing moments
that may lead readers to some peaks
     of insight  provoke comments
or make them think outside
     their usual frame of mind  
reflect upon their role within mankind

if I can work such wonders with my words
I am content and know
my lines are not just for the birds

I wish for us
the year twothousandtwentyone
fulfill at least some of the expectations
we all have  
           secretly or not
  after the lousiest year of our life
           to put it mildly

as a colleague from India
recently put it in his Christmas greetings

      think positive, test negative

A better New Year to you all
reach to the skies, avoid to fall !!

I played with words
much like I fed the birds

    one morsel here
          another there

then suddenly became aware

they pulled together
     and made sense

have been a player ever since

my wish for yet another year
    apart from all the usual
    of good health luck success and joy
is that the news become more elevating
inform us less about what's going wrong
foreground the positive
not only the sensational alarmist frightening

in short
provide a better balanced view of our world
to make it clear from what is seen and heard
that even though
room for improvement on the globe is plenty
we can do it

A HAPPY NEWS YEAR 2020

emojis we send
assuming images say more
than our words
make our feelings visual

they say
a picture says more
than a thousand words

yet often
words
inspire pictures

ever and again
politicians apparently forget
that the dangers
of living on our planet
are real

and that it is their responsibility
to make sure  
that they hand out contracts
only to companies
that build safe houses
that do not bury their inhabitants
under their rubble

when the earth quakes

when nothing seems to matter
joy or disaster
    same difference

you may want
to double-check
your priorities

when I hear you
say my name
I feel like jumping
over all words
to hold you close

as Boris' wild rule begins ending
he enjoys his last days, and depending
on who will succeed
and might be in need
he hopes he could still be upending

tonight I saw a report
based on the congressional hearings
about events on January 6, 2021

a clear case of a ruthless mob
encouraged by a ruthless ex- president

who watched without recalling his mob
until the failure of his sedition became obvious

I also watched the original live reports
of the event oo CNN, MSNBC, etc

no difference

130 mass shootings
    in the first three months
      of. 2023

lately on the average
50 people are shot dead
    every day
in the land of the free and the brave

since 2020
gunshot wounds
have become the primary cause
of death among children and teenagers

why people
would want to live in a land like that
I do not know

for those advanced in years
a glance ino our closets may actually serve
as welcome help for oft eclectic memories

not worn for many years but well preserved
our clothing from the days of yore
can bring back memories of striking moments

events of great significance
     some of great joy amd pleasure
others of  horror pain disaster
       not remembered gladly

our lives as dressed for some significant occasions
pass review in the wardrobe reminiscent of

     the dress worn for the first date
            another one for graduation
     the first self-bought suit
            in which you had your dinner date

    the tights that made your male friends whistle
    that leather jacket in which you thought
             you looked like Elvis
    a wedding dress  
                a wedding suit
   dark dress and suit for funerals

your life's diversity all in one closet
for you to remember
     and maybe wonder
how you have lived so far
so long

I am really getting tired
about all the NGO calls
for donations & support
after natural catastrophes
etc.

why
are the local/regional/national authorities
who administer taxpayer money
unable to handle the situation?!?!

the yellow viral elephant
is not the topic of these lines

I’d rather speak of precious things
we almost have forgotten
over the last few months

the sight of crystal mountain lakes
under blue summer skies

your lover’s eyes looking at you
mirroring shared desires

how refugees were lucky to escape
and build a new home elsewhere

how children with unbridled joy
learn how to use their favorite toy

the oceans undulating waves
always new shapes for our wondering eyes

how the new day reverberates
with the melodious song of birds

our world has beauty bountiful
just look at it

I rarely go out
do not talk to many
cook my own meals
don a mask on planes and buses
and crowded supermarkets

hoping to survive Covid
uninfected

sitting up straight
     suddenly
apropos of nothing

another arrow
from reality

what do you know
about the hearts of people

you have to listen to them
they are pulsing
  very much
sometimes they can tell you
what they feel

the days of the week
have lost their shapes
they are now septuplets
difficult to keep apart
melting into each other

an endless loop

mornings
     afternoons
                  nights
mornings
     afternoons
                   nights …

difficult to track time
clocks run in circles
history morphs to perpetual now

only the weather changes
nature remains unimpressed
      by our problems

fake election victory
fake president
fake impeachment trial
no decisive witness
fake acquittal

real crimes & misdemeanors
go unpunished

fake democracy?

a vague thought
struggling to become clear

what was it I actually
wanted to say

complain about the world
its crazy politics
neverending wars
   
global warming
that seems to be
on few politicians’ mind

the pandemic that is endemic
but which some so-called leaders
still try to ignore

the bizarre concept of
authoritarian democracy
????????????????????

polar bears starving
island flooded by rising seas
forest fires more than ever

oh - my thought has cleared now

ALL OF THE ABOVE!

in times
when wars create
terrible chaos unexpectedly
obsessive heads of state
allow their armies also
to  attack civilian targets
killing thousands of innocents
in theaters  churches  hospitals
just to show
they can

in times like these
what can a poet do
   in addition to feeding some NGOs
except find words
to tell the wannabe dictators of the world
that they are really tiny souls
desperately trying to gain global recognition
with their bombs and their artillery  
just to show

apparently they all are unaware
that they will be remembered
not as the saviors but the butchers
of their devastated nations

when I hear the godawful daily news
I really get the serious daily blues
dictators abound
democracy rarely found
and this also applies to the US

I just watched
a documentary about
the first female winner
of the Nobel Peace Prize

      1905

      Bertha von Suttner

why is it

115 years later
still so difficult
to make peace?

the pandemic is endemic
that’s why it has its name
if you ignore all your medics
only you are to blame

for the deaths among your people
    the highest rate in the world
you sure made America great again
in disasters corruption unemployment
and mismanagement of a deadly crisis

out of misguided vanity
in times when simple sanity
would have sufficed
to save thousands of lives

do presidents get sentenced for mass ******?
if not
they SHOULD!!!

Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing.

comfortably relaxed
in front of a warming fireplace
somewhat in contemplation of the world
I recapitulate the day

but not too seriously

because the news over the internet
needs some deciphering and filtering
to figure out what’s really going on around the world
same for traditional media

reading through all the news
     the good and the bad
takes up most of my morning
      which I resent
I don't have so many mornings any more
       at my stage of advanced maturity …

I guess I am nostalgically
wishing for older days' simplicities
when one could understand
why certain people did say certain things
you knew the proper filters
to apply to sundry media and people

today it seems to me
that many politicians
say one thing now
      and just the opposite
      one minute later
or they ignore the questions
     and spout off on topics
      they prefer to sell

        and nobody complains
        about that ****** rhetoric

what kills democracy is just exactly
this erasure of trust and factuality
the relativization of all truths
reiterating lies and contradictions
until they sound like the new normal

this tends to make us think
that EVERYTHING in politics is ******
      not worth our vote

yet uncast votes are missed most bitterly

they make it possible
that radical minorities
can steal elections and then claim
they are the rightful leaders of the nation
with votes of less than 25 percent of the electorate
       and some gerrymandering

difficult times we live in

always blame others
for your own mistakes
this is exactly what it takes
to make America great again
ignore all medical advice
for over four months of pandemic
let hundredthirtythousand people die
and when infections shoot sky-high
blame all the mess on your chief medic
     to everyone but Donald Trump
    such sleight of hand would be too plump

but he’s obsessed with his campaigning
oblivious of the dangers he creates
risking that his remaining followers
may soon be knocking at the gates
     of hospitals without more space

     or of some otherworldly place

it is sadly obvious
you don't care about
Corona, or your people,
the unemployed, the jobless
the thousands of Americans you killed
with your procrastinating non-approach
to the most dangerous epidemic of the century

so - just get lost!!