Tag: poetry

You Again [en]

Oh hai
It’s you again
I thought I’d dealt with you
Written your ugly face into oblivion

I know, I did too much
Yesterday
I was happy to finally do things
That had been nagging at me for months

OK, I didn’t do what was planned
But hey
I did do stuff
That needed to be done

So I guess it’s my fault
Isn’t it
I should have known better
I should have done less

I should have known
That I’d pay today
And forced myself

To stop, to rest, to stick to the plan
Exciting plan of course
Taxes

And today I’m useless
Headache in the background
Shopping carts full to the brim
With colourful jigsaw puzzles I covet

I’m working tomorrow
I need to recover
I could use sympathy, you know
Or maybe even congratulations

For not hitting « buy »
For getting the message when I woke up
For not trying to push myself
For writing off the day

My taxes can wait
They’re already late
Let me off the hook for once

« It’s your fault it’s your fault it’s your fault »

Why can’t you just hear
That this is the bug in my programming
I’m looking for workarounds
But you don’t seem to care

You just keep showing up, Guilt
I won’t call you my friend
Though you and I
Are well acquainted

Be gone with you!
I’m fed up and tired
Go take a hike
Without me of course

To the end of the trail
That leads off the cliffs
I can tell you for sure
That you won’t be missed

Facebook Criminal [en]

I’m a facebook criminal
Eighteen years building bridges
Sharing insights life knowledge trivia
Connecting to people and connecting people
Building communities
Building trust
Thinking out loud and crying in words
Loving, debating, rarely hating
Being human, first and foremost
Being me

I’m a facebook criminal
Not like the scammers and spammers
Promoters of fake news
Shills and conspiracy theorists
No, not like them, upstanding netizens
Not like the shady marketers
The pyramid-scheme coaches
The sad trolls and the desperate incels

I’m a facebook criminal
Trying to do good in the digital world
Raising awareness
Saving sick cats
Giving reach to your cry for help
Finding a home for your houseplant
Sharing photos of a hike
Offering a place to crash

I’m a facebook criminal
The worst kind
Authentic
Posting every day
Sharing links to the world wide web
Nourishing the network
Pointing out bad actors
Too many cat photos I’m sure
But didn’t you know
The internet is made of cats
– Maybe not facebook

Eighteen years of posts and comments
Down the drain
All they carried too
Your comments your photos your thoughts
Conversations amputated 
Disappeared
They were yours too, you know
They were ours
Communities like Swiss cheese now
Emptiness where once the backbone was
Conversations with dead friends
Like on Ed Sheeran’s old phone
Gone, maybe for good, like them

I’m a facebook criminal
Convicted by a jury of bots
No humans for me, how ironic
For being too human
The machine will judge and sentence me
A digital death of sorts
Make way for the sycophants
The brands with deep pockets
Those waging the cyberwar
As long as it pays

All your good deeds are just fleeting electrons
But the red marks are hard-coded
Even if we were wrong
The Cluetrain is long gone
Somewhere in the scrap heap
The Gods of the Algorithm
Blinded by power
Will hear no prayers.

Morning Chill [en]

Plums decaying in the fridge
Plants drying in their pots
Clean laundry waiting in the basket
An old cat with three wobbly legs

Taxes approaching their third deadline
Half-open luggage on the floor
Out-of-date billing information
E-mails and phone calls unanswered

Projects in stasis
Grief set aside
Dreams huddled in a corner
Head just out of water

Floors and surfaces hide under stuff
Recycling sits in the hallway
Dust bunnies multiply
The plums have company

But
The dishes are done
Breakfast is underway
The cat is purring
And a friend is coming

Hurry up and Live [en]

Life is short
It’s always scared me
Ugly crying they call it
Like being sick in India
Just let go
Your body knows

You never know
What hits the pain button
A mountain hut
In an old photograph
We never went
We’ll never go

You leave not just absence
But also “why?”
Why, oh why?
It’s hard not to be angry
Weren’t we enough?
Weren’t we all worth it?

I know, I know
But just for a minute
Let’s pretend I don’t
This isn’t fair
It hurts too much
Feels like a betrayal

So I’ll shed more tears
On your breakup with life
I’ll mourn your lost years
Our friendship cut short
Your plans and your dreams
The love you gave and we gave you

I’ll look to the stars
They say you are there
I see only fire
And darkness between
I list my regrets
Search vainly for sleep

Life is too short
Why didn’t I call
For one extra memory
Words that might have soothed
Though I may not have known
Did you know back then?

Did you say your goodbyes
Without us noticing
Or did you leave in a hurry
Ghost the party
Because it couldn’t wait anymore
You just had to escape

I’m sorry I missed it
We all are, if only you knew
We couldn’t have fixed it
I know, I know
But it still leaves me baffled
You had no other way

So I’ll go through my short life
Urgency renewed
Our clocks are all ticking
Hands drained of power
I’ll cry in the mountains
And wish you were there.


Untitled [en]

Everywhere I turn
Is something shining in the sun
Like a diamond
Like a pearl
A speck of life or love or fire
Catches my eye
Catches my breath
My heart runs off and takes me with it
I try to follow and keep the pace
I go left
I go right
A merry-go-round lost in the stars
Lights keep flashing in my brain
I singe my wings
The flame tastes sweet
Another one
Oh, look! Another!
I shatter in a million pieces
Sent across the universe
For if I were to remain whole
Those shiny things would steal my soul.