Shall I still caress

him, stroking through his thin hair?


Will it make him bald?

I must placate mum

and dad when they are fighting --


I'm not there myself.

There's no other way.

I must be white when he's black --


be black when he's white.

So what are the facts?

Just unforgettable, are --


my reconstructions.

Slow lava creeps up

on you and it swallows you --


There is nothing left.

Sadness disappears

in ever wider circles --


of re-retelling.

Today was a draft,

but tomorrow I will start --


a fresh piece of life.

He's lying there weird,

his body is not sleeping --


it is left behind.

It makes me lonely

that no one sees how serious --


things are for me now.

It's a social game:

he looks at her, insecure --


so she looks at me.

She quickly locks - click -

her little mouth and swallows --


up the little key.

Closing time, the farewell
almost over, the seats free
the table full, the glasses empty

I have to go, I'm leaving
Don't look at me like that, you
old singers in old frames

It's quiet on the street, I'm going
The moon is shining, we are turning
back to the sun already

The dogs stand
The scent of our love
has evaporated

The sheets are cold
Put an extra blanket
over your memory

Step aside! Don't speak

of what you don't understand --


This road is our road!

Oh, these good old days...

how elusively little --


is left of them now.

Will people ever

love the earth, their mother, more --


than all their vices?

What a strange office!

Still, it turned out that I stayed:


I got used to it.

Getting old, no time

anymore to keep order --


in what I witness.

Being so concerned

with the oppressed everywhere --


just not with colleagues...

The clouds chasing grey

and fierce, over the canal --


a flock of starlings.

The majority

will want to live frugally --


when it is too late.

Death penalty: could

be, but it's risky to train--


executioners.

The Director stands

in his room like a farmer --


in his own courtyard.

The café is full,

I am outside and I feel --


the comfort that's there.

Never any change!

Everything always the same --


with variations.

I am as the phrase

goes, deep in thought, pondering --


just about nothing.

The Spartan women,

sitting on the salty shore --


are combing their hair.

That light over there,

the outer side of the black --


that is the future.

Always thresholds
/everywhere
To the world
/to be alive
Surviving people
/everywhere
Chance, above all
/everywhere

Angel of Farewell, get lost in love
/Pass me, pass me by
Angel of Betrayal, get lost in friendship
/Pass me, pass me by
Angel of Conceit, get lost in attention
/Pass me, pass me by
Angel of Pettiness, get lost in freedom
/Pass me, pass me by
Angel of Destructive Jealousy, get lost in generosity
/Pass me, pass me by
Angel of Impatience, get lost in order
/Pass me, pass me by
Angel of Brutality, get lost in harmony
/Pass me, pass me by

But you, won't you pass by?
/You, yes you
please seize the day with me
/come and
take and give and share
/and
eat and drink with me!

Angels of Fatigue, kiss the mighty
/Hear me, see me, help me
Angels of the Tempests, kiss the vicious
/Hear me, see me, help me
Angels of Reluctance, kiss the manipulators and tormentors
/Hear me, see me, help me
Angels of Neglect, kiss the hangers-on and profiteers
/Hear me, see me, help me
Angel of Mistakes, kiss the hypocrites and deputies
/Hear me, see me, help me
Angel of Myopia, kiss the liars and imposters
/Hear me, see me, help me
Angel of Indulgence, kiss the bitter and frustrated people
/Hear me, see me, help me

And you, won't you pass by?
/You, yes you
please seize the day with me
/come and
take and give and share
/and
eat and drink with me!

Your life may be long

or short, but make sure you live --


fully in the Force.

Nowhere can it be

safe anymore, look: adults --


too can cry a lot!

The prelate opens

the ancient reliquary:


holy is the dust.

Reality flows

out of the war camp, between --


dream and welfare work.

I can be a saint

in helping people, I should --


try that out to know.

Her lips, and then she

runs off, leaving me, my lips --


on the cold hard glass.

Nothing is beyond

my reach, since detached I don't --


reach for anything.

It is attention

that licks children into shape --


It's love. Or hatred.

No one really cares

about me, except God, sure --


that's what I was taught.

Mama woke me up
She embraced me sobbing and
stumbled down the stairs
in my arms, and I

stumbled down the stairs
in her arms, to daddy
in the kitchen, arms around each other
we were crying

but I had to go back, see
how I was
breathless on my bed
still warm

as if I was asleep, oh
you are thirteen
don't go, stay
here with me

Paramedics arrived
They put me in a bag
and carried me away
leaving me behind

Vividly coloured

straw flowers in the snowfield --


but they do not smell.

Unconditional

is my love and exhausted --


you will go away.

Mama is angry, she's letting me
I just should
be big enough
Her mummy time is over

since the divorce
No new beginning yet
I just should
be kind to her

indulge her and help her
until it's getting better
I just should
not mind the voices

that spit at me
with swear words
and cover my thoughts
I just should

listen to her and see
how I get rid of it
Is there anyone
who is not deaf to me?

I just should fix it myself
and if I can do that, mama
you can succeed as well
in being my mama again

Be careful, my love

is heavy, you will get tired --


and then you'll leave me.

No minor issue can be made
of the stinking discomfort
my body has become
because of the remix with pills
trying out
better versions of me

With a mouthful of Latin
the doctor lets everyone
speechless with bated breath
in the danger zone
of my sweat and gases
have a look

into the cold beak
between my legs
There I lie
thinking of the cloud
of friends around my bed
in which I relieve my soul

It thunders above

the clouds, you never can know --


where it will break through.

This is not a flying cold
this is doing the usual things
in a tilted world

crawling on sore knees
over the sharp rings in the metal
of a fallen spiral staircase

Keep going, keep going, take a rest
in a corner of the turn
till fear loves me again

till my ears go again
with what I see and feel
in the storm of my thoughts

till my intestines fall in place
in the witches' cauldron
and my emotions come home

from suffering
from the lesser evil
to everyone who loves me

At last there's a flag,

flapping next to a café --


like a crackling fire.

Since that day I

old striped out tiger
in a young body

stand in another light
that undresses me, inexorably

untying the laces of my certainties
unbuttoning my habits and dreams

kissing open my eyes
to the beauty

of the abyss
and with a soft hand

taking off my immortality
The abyss isn't an abyss

if I fly and you
accept my hand: look at me

I'm looking at you
standing in another light

since that day when I was so happy
to be still alive - I am

after deep sighs, ready
to jump

It's better to dream

of the future and not fall --


into its abyss.

'Do you know where you are going to?
Do you like the things that life is showing you?'

the way it is, today
my own life today
softly singing on

my way to the next
crossing in the park
knowing where I'm going

left or right, always
back to friends
with whom I'm happy

Even if I don't participate
with the neighbours, all of Brussels
Berlin, Beyrouth, and Beijing

I still participate
but otherwise, living
close to myself

indoors "viewless"
today's life, softly
singing on my way

Even when I can't,

I want to participate --


Life doesn't wait, does it?