I cut a hole to find a hole
water is flowing out
of the concrete, I cut into it
until I'm spent and then

I cut further, a larger hole
in the concrete, sorry dear neighbours
sorry for your ceiling too
but it's leaking and I can cry from it

that I can't put my finger in it
everything is arranged so well
with pipes and working faucets
which I, unfortunately, have to close now

it's a problem for all of us
I don't give up, I don't want to
be the owner of a leak
the dikes must be closed

Our back is a wood without paths
great-great-grandfather's sixty oak trees
planted on his wedding day when
the house was ready, the house

in which the plans were made
to demolish it
and the trees

can pay for it

Everything new, no past anymore
that we can touch, but
young planting without shade
over the eighth generation

Our back: no wood, no garden
a hole filled with tall grass
in which sixty twigs hide

Inside the house too
there is light everywhere

More computers
more working robots
more non-working people

there is so much reluctance
and creative resistance
against delay repeating

time-consuming tasks
and enough intractability
to care nothing

for the way it simply goes
that's just the way it goes
nowadays how else

could we expect prosperity
what we do not expect
because we simply fear

computers
working robots
non-working people

Charles was the first
King of Spain
a Belgian

from the waterland
of Bruges and Ghent
Mechlin Leuven Brussels

the atria and the ventricles
the heart of Europe
2.1

Charles spoke French
German to his horse
and Italian with women

later also Spanish
to God and the Spaniards
but he preferred to be at home

in the middle of the stream
of the culture, the new
Blessed Empire

Laborious
new socks

Not to pinch
my ankles
I lift up and cut
round after round
the border elastic
Carefully
Not the thread
From shirts, I unpick
the name labels, also that
invisible one that
would chafe
my neck
the loop (out of date)
and the three folded
information labels - factory-tailored
clothing has advantages

but it isn't ready
to be worn

He's doing the things
that stick in our mouths
He throws away the trash

which isn't his, because
the permits are no good
and he is not afraid

for the police, not afraid
for shambles, hospital
and scars, not afraid

to feel the depth
of a fall and then
sparking from short circuits

his head blowing
to pieces in milliseconds
and that's it

The permits are no good
and he's doing the things
that stick in our mouths

My sister has tried it by halves
first pleasuring one, then the other

king and getting nothing in return
no, away with the pope
if there is no other way
I will be the matriarch of the country

He has beaten his son to death unborn
It is his furious blood

that is fighting mine
Damn that seamstress
but praise my husband
even though he wants to get rid of me

He is dear to me and I am innocent
I will be the matriarch of the country

I don't understand dad
but more than he does

understand me and the world
which is not so small

and not as simple as he
sees it through a pair of mustache glasses

under the wild hair
of his young wig

I want more
than walking with the dog

rasping cheese, and tea
with mama, tea with granny

more than sweet
memories later

I want hard facts
that matter and hit

demonstrable changes in the world
and only then I'll be contented

We have ordered musicians
but can we pay them?
Give them some tea

     Listen, the trees are falling
     Lovely, the sound of axes
     cutting down the orchard

     The times are changing
     Play! I want to celebrate!
     You can leave after that

I don't know, I want to go
Why have we grown so old?
I remember everybody

was happy, without knowing
why, didn't we discuss it
time after time! It is over

We'll die anyway
while life goes on
as if we have never lived

I took the girl with me to Lexington
At the bus station we ate peacefully
a snack from the vending machine

and I bought her a ticket
for the 11-hour ride to Chicago
Maybe I saved her
sixteen years old, hitchhiking

on a dark Kentucky road
going to say hello to her grandma
she said, and I still worry about her

I can do it because I think
that I can do better
then another, I better

not think about that
because the need is high
and the opinions are stuck

Filters take the light away
I have to laugh at them
until we are exposed again
to our common sense
and can start again
to enforce
a better world
on the people
who do not trust me

The others will follow
until everything will crash again
and the laughter silenced

will choose someone again
who says he can do better
what no one achieved yet

High in the mountains
the giants sleep on the roofs
no one sees them
we dream them

when we are young
and folded in ourselves
making great plans
for the world we know

we are already on our way
just landed here
for a while, to grow
on our sky canopy bed

until we wake up
as heroes who put right
what has been made amiss
by the little people

High-level meeting
The king was bound to it
The reputation of the country

is attacked, and defended
with the greatest philosopher:
are the unbelievers inferior?

Should we convert them
with cannons and forced labour
and be rewarded for that?

Or are we robbing and killing
civilized people to damnation
of ourselves, an indelible debt?

The opinions remain
divided, the king is powerless
He cannot make a decision

The sages split up
Praying, they purify their souls
from what they didn't say

Maybe because of my big heart
that is nevertheless afraid
of everything that could go wrong

and often does not offer room
for what I need, does not make space
for what I wish for

Or to bridge the distance
from my high legs and long neck
to you, and not to look down on you

with armed love
to soothe an unmet need
half-heartedly

Maybe I just imagine
what you do and say to me
maybe we want the same

maybe, under the skin, you too
are a giraffe, maybe we can
just be giraffes

The representative wants my wishes
to fulfill them if possible, but first
he will solve my problems

by adding rules
that pack everything tightly
until it is easy to handle

for clean hands
He cares for me, with an office
full of official love

and occasionally with decrees
from the big chair
until they are spent

and he has to balance
in height, speaking policy
with his head in the clouds

that cover up where it goes wrong
that cover up the emptiness of the sky
and keep the chair high

The staff members are the worst
they only do their job half way
spying on the chief
and each other, to blow with
the wind when it turns

They take care
of their career, what is good
for them is called good
for the cause, they hold on
and will spoil everything

Even if it's just hearsay
a good story is indestructible
It steals what you want to have
and you black-wash everyone who contradicts
to appear white yourself

while you are the first to cry
Stop thief!
with a passing side note
which amplifies the rumours
by contradicting them

Underwear day indoors
screaming for fresh air
bored with my rooms
lying on the couch
after another shower

I needed to clean up
The house would be chock-full
with everything I ever had
Not so much the plants
in the street that I saved

the cat food or the mountain
of medicine, just the usual stuff:
piles of clothes, that one denim jacket
from the photo, my diving suit
grandpa's tools and a bed

I put it on the sidewalk
and after a day I took the remains
away to a pass-on shop
where I left with bags full
I left with bags full

Strongman! Strongman!
We are willing and already dare half
only dare half, only if you say so
will we give money
to forces

The complete package
we send: rolls
of barbed wire, poles
excavators, gravel
bags of cement and

instructions for use
shows our lack
of experience with wolves
who insolently act as if
they belong here

Like sheep we come to see
what's happening and
unintentionally we make it worse
the wolf can't help it
it's his instinct, right?

She lies, no, she does not
she is sick, terribly sick
Let us pray for her
save her if she wants it
if she kneels for mercy

We appeal to her
conscience, her shame
and to the night
in which no one can live
who has known the light

She is hysterical
sedate her
cut it out
of her brain
or short-circuit it

Out-of-home placement
not for protection
but cast out
as a liar
among the righteous

After those first years, they
took him in for a second term
and now he barks a lot more

Okay, we're not unwilling
neighbours and throw him
a ball

Oh dear, he already has it
and with a lot of noise, he forces
us to give in to him again

He gets bored easily
and can't stand
being ignored, so

we take turns dressing up
in our best clothes
to serve as ball boys

In between, the dog bites
a few people on the legs
and poops wherever he pleases

The lack of freedom of the threatened -
the refugee, the citizen...

The stress of the oppressed -
the unbeliever, the scapegoat...

The fear of the minority -
the Jew, the intellectual...

The despair of the expelled -
the nonconformist, the immigrant...

The death of the attacked -
the woman, the stranger...

does not want to, cannot, may not
be named otherwise
than my freedom -

my free time, my hope
my home, my safety...

my spoiled life -
in my spoiled country...

I hand over tasks
He has to do it exactly
as I dictate
faster than I can
and keep it up longer

That is going well
With extensive instructions
and an extra battery
I let him do more and more
although it takes me a lot of time

to learn from his mistakes and
prevent them step by step
In unforeseen circumstances
he gets stuck or suddenly
cuts a caper

He isn't very intelligent
but in our conversations
his imagination surpasses mine
and then I simply don't know
what is true anymore

The scores suppress
the profession I have learned
They suppress my work and the joy
of doing something good

Only the rankings count -
the numbers and the turnover
Not health
and helpfulness

I can't keep that up
No one can keep that up
once they realise it
and wonder why

the work is disappointing
why it has to be this way
and why there is little time
for contact

This is a country without slaves
to multinationals, it makes a great
difference of less money transactions
air traffic, road traffic, and data traffic

For strangers, there is little
work here, we take care of ourselves
You might as well do the same
Somewhere where you stand a chance

You shouldn't come to us
We are enough for each other
without foreign countries
status, and holidays

that make you tired
and leave you with little memory
We can entertain ourselves
without robbing anyone

or ourselves

Vote for me, I have a big one -
a long list, everyone wants to
take part when your vote wins
Choose me, then we are friends
and I will help you with favourable regulations

Between us, help me
with one thing, and I
will take great pains
that your complaint and your vote
are taken seriously

My consultation hours are in the street
and my office is in the café
to talk things through thoroughly
If anything is harrowing
I will arrange a film crew

with a gift for following
our advice and wishes
We must think big
show big and make a big noise
that we are the majority

The program is there
but not the Party
for the Common Good

the party for people
who show solidarity, citizens
above consumers

the party for public services
and a social revenue model
the party for one another

and for closing
the loopholes in the law
where parasites thrive

and with lies, throw dust
in their own eyes and
everyone else's eyes

Evil punishes itself, but
unfortunately not always
And even then, the mischief

is done, it is
the classic tragedy
of criminal hubris

to think that one can
cut out the freedom of others
with weapons and intimidation

and become great from it
oneself as a defender
of self-interest

In the end, it always fails
and everyone is worse off
because of those in power

who are blind and deaf
to the havoc they wreak
by their own right

People have wishes, complaints
and sometimes they demand
Nothing is done about it, well
it is investigated

And then come bite-sized
the quotes with figures
and priorities and
getting started

What someone else needs to do
In collaboration with
The dirty work
(which almost no one votes for)

But you can count on me
I will always say exactly
what is wrong and who
are suffering the consequences

Wie ein Prototyp
wie man mithilfe von Suchwörtern
blitzschnell relevante Informationen
für eine Reaktion
zusammen recht

bevor bekannt ist, warum
bevor man eine Ahnung hat, warum
man tut, was man tut
nun ja, was man getan hat
So geht es

weiter, Illusionen
von Ordnung, Vernunft und Willen
die mich zu dem formen
der ich zu sein glaube
Als Phänomen

der vollen Automatik
meiner Sinne
und Gehirnprozesse
und wie sich mein Körper
dabei fühlt

It doesn't go automatically
but it almost goes by itself
flowing through smooth beds

around each other's discomforts
and sensitive spots
towards silent wishes

Everything in its usual place
that helps, and keep eating
of course, seeing enough sun

not to become gloomy
or dream away
in a romantasy

of eternal youth
happily ever after
from spring to spring

My work is not too much for me
On the contrary, it is not enough
result and even confirms
what should have changed

It is new bottles
for soured wine
It doesn't resolve any
problems, it reassures
the managers

And that is what I live off
That is what makes me unhappy
and the staff even more so

      after the walking meditation
      on the company's mission
      after writing haiku together
      singing keynotes
      and, if necessary, fire-

      walking
      to change fearlessly
      and to do that together
      even if the boss does not dare

Nobody notices it
yet, but I have it in me

the brilliant ideas and the authority
to make things run

as they should, worked out
in detail in my reports

My promotion is a matter
of time, my work will be seen

it is already there
in my head, ready

to be announced, politely
taking everyone into consideration

Yes, I adapt, I wait
for the right time

and prepare everything
I see it in my mind

I know how the world works
and when the time comes, we can

all be satisfied

An exploded world
inside out
unfaltering

the water swallowed up
and the crust an asphalt sea
a dead sea, wasteland

where no cattle can graze
and everyone starves
is a horror dream

of one and a half hours
in the cinema hall
Outside we rely

on nuclear bombs and smart solutions
for a humane environment
because there is no growth

in placenta earth