Lessons learned well by Hatto Fischer 2008

You are here: Home » Poets » Hatto Fischer » Lessons learned well by Hatto Fischer 2008

All the poems were written in the Café La Vache -

a place of negation

for Frederique Chabaud

School days

Are over

I learned

My lessons

Well not really

For no love

Understands

Absence

A table

Remarks

To the empty chair

Wait

For a while

Maybe

She shall return

To reverse

The ‘no’ she said

At the café La Vache

In Brussels

So many a times.

I heat up the day

You cool

My forehead

Together

We drink

Dew

Made out of dreams

To live

Together

You hold a cup

In your hand

I kiss this hand

In response

To your lips

Sailing along

With the wind

As force which

Makes the horizon

Reflect a shoreline

Where

Your figure

Stands

As if a lighthouse

For my orientation

To prove something

Is to say

Something does not need

To be proven

But your hands

Silence

My whisper

As proof

Of your love

To understand you

I need more lives

Than I can gain

In experience

By living alone

Without you

Happiness

Is having

A chance

To make

Mistakes

In freedom

Giving one

A chance

To correct

Them with love

Over there

Crowds are overwhelmed

By their destinies,

Over here

My poem

Testifies

What can be felt

The moment

You smile

Holy light

In your eyes

Is like your breath

Which takes away

My pain

10.

If a trip around the world

Is worthwhile

Then you think

Of writing

About a journey

To be whole

11.

Aspire

And the sweat

Follows the look

As your eyes circle

Like seagulls

Around my head

While children

Play

In streets

Free of fear

12.

No ball

Bounces

As high

As my feelings

When I see

You coming

Down the street

13.

Love

A patchwork

Of words

Spins me

Around

It happened

After

I entered

Your universe

14.

Late in the evening

Came the rain

A steady downpour

Continued

Till the earth

Got soaked

As did my body

Feeling yours

Stretching the full length

To touch my toes

15.

Strength is weakness

When you are

Not open enough

To let your vulnerability

Touch your words

So that we know

What they mean

Fifty years later

16.

A blue table

Stands

In the sunlight

Dreaming

Of an unrecognizable

Country in the South

17.

Dipped in red

Lets

Streets

Houses

Cars

Be mistaken during sunset

For blood oranges

18.

The counterpoint to a graphic

Made of Black & White

Not only

About colour,

It is also

About

Understanding

The colours of the rainbow

19.

Hands touch

When a child

Grips the thumb

To say ‘hello’

20.

There are limits

to reach the stars

Even astronauts are

In my imagination

Unable

To phantom

The depth

Of your universe

21.

Roll along,

All along

The winds

Long for the open sea

22.

With the wind

Comes

My friend

In a bus

Filled

With people

All eager

To fly

Their kites

23.

If ever I felt reluctance

To accept your love

Then two years with you

Kept me on course

For about two minutes

Since it made all the difference

For a dream of an entire life

Never realized in time

24.

To offer

Something

Going beyond

Conventional love

Means to demand

More truth

Than what I can muster

If left

Guessing

Where you are

25.

It is not a rush

Or a crush

Or an elongation

Of a dream

It is to speak up

To kick up some dust

So that I do not drown

In your kisses of silence

26.

To make a book

Come alive

Is like letting

A baby walk

For the first time

27.

Childhood memories

Are told best

By listening

To the story

Of the donkey

28.

Aspects of streets

Observed

Clear the way

When the hand

Wipes of the page

The bread crumbs

You left behind

Thinking I was a bird

29.

The black box

Is a hoax

In which disappear

Your fears

Of men

Chasing you down

Dark alleys

Until

Someone cracks

The code

And makes you

Be no longer afraid

Of your inner ‘self’

30.

Automatic revolving doors

Never really open up,

Nor do they ever close well,

Even when passing through

It means ending up

Going round and round

To escape the rain

While never entering

The corridors of power

31.

I have moist eyes

But no complaint

Just a heart ache

A bit of fever

While looking

Anxiously down

The street

To see

If you will still come

32.

One hour later

The chair

On the other side

Of the table

Remains still empty

33.

Tea

Coffee

Other beverages

We consume

Like parrots drink

To grow old

In a most natural way

34.

I leave empty

The next pages

Exhausted from waiting

Even though I was sure

You would not come

To find me

But it was worthwhile

The effort

To cling to moments

Of farewell

After a series of ‘no’s

At La Vache

Ended in

“it is all over”

So I just began

To laugh

At the foolishness

Of my love

35.

What did I do wrong

To frighten

You away

Look

The rain

Washes away

The dust

36.

Standing

Under street lights

Lets rooftops

Of houses

Be linkages

To the entire city

37.

The mural of peace

Is optimism

38.

A number of children

Sing

To protect

Their love for life

From flies

Circling

Around the rubbish can

Filled with things

Older generations

Have left behind

39.

Thoughts

Stretch

Bodies

Calculating

A jump

Into freedom

As something

To remember

40.

Overturned

Fresh remembered

You wanted

To say something

But I forget

And then

You could

No longer bear

The thought

Of repeating

Yourself

As if the new

Was already old

41.

Hesitate, yes,

Stop thinking, no

But I as a monk

Of the tenth century

Picked up the thread

And left

The day as it is:

A gift of life

For you

To experience

Without me

But as a ‘no’ to the ‘no’

To see

If a ‘yes’

Can be written

As parable

Into my pocket book

Since I keep wondering

Why do you exist

Within me forever?

42.

From Israel

You returned more silent

Than ever before

As if the collective self

Had come down from the Golan Heights

To break up a specific meeting

Upheld by a specific dialogue

Meant to interrelate cultures

Rather than separate those who love

To drive all towards hate

43.

Endurance

Was required

For the long flight back

But now

Your imagination

Takes forever off

Without your feet

Ever landing

Lightly

On my feet

44.

A dance

Of joy

Is a whistle blow

Away

From the kettle

To make tea

Ready to be served three times

As the monk of Georgie says:

First bitter like life,

Then sweet like love

And finally mellow

Like wise old age

45.

Voila:

The remark

About growing old

Is worth

Another look

Into the mirror

To see

If flashbacks

Of youth

Remind me

Of something

Resembling

Your beautiful voice

And smile

46.

The sand

After the storm

Describes

A pattern

Meant

To silence

Your concerns

47.

A boat

On the pavement

Says

The sponge divers

Have come

To see

If coins

Fell

Through the urban grid

48.

We live everywhere

But in reality

At only one location

Seeping honey

From all other spots

49.

An idea

You have to end

It all

Is to persist

In not responding

Till everything

Falls on deaf ears

To hear

No longer

The sea

The song

Some footsteps

A cough

And my simple plea

To let me in

50.

The bay below Zagora

Was a view

More beautiful

When you showed

The dress

You would wear

Not at yours but

At Isabelle’s wedding

51.

My oath of Delphi

Means

It takes a long time

To realize a true love

For it is not like

Conquering an empire

Nor to imitate Columbus

When he discovered the new world.

Rather it is a simple way

And straight forward

To keep faith

In love

As strange as it may be

But as elongation of your dreams

Waiting to be lived

I still long

To become a part of it

52.

Labour’s lost love

Work undone

Due to the many hours

Gone hungry

Like my love

No longer wanting

To be noted

For at the pitch of my voice

I sing merely

In the rain

53.

Your absence

Is like a telephone ringing

Endlessly

Down corridors

To let heart beats

Vibrate

While I follow

Shadows

Walking

Softly

In your footsteps

Long gone

54.

Rest

A bit

In the twilight

I try

Again

To fix the light

Even

Though

As unpractical

As I am

It is easier

For me

To give an uplift

To the soul

With a poem

55.

Straight

From the heart

Words

Say

A lot

56.

Beauty astonishes

When love

Is made simple

By a nose

Touching

The toe

57.

Balance

Is magic

If a lantern

Sways

In the evening breeze

In front of

A China shop

Inviting you in

Not to eat, but to listen to

The plum poems *

reference to the plum poems to be found in George Crane’s book “Beyond the House of the false Lama”

58.

Philosophy

What a laugh

When everything

Is about

Doubt

Fenced in

While no one sees

Wisdom

Is the grass

Eaten by the sheep

59.

One Instruction

Of the Blues

Listen

To the pain like rain

Prior to tunes thereof

Saved well

In what

Has become

My favourite refrain:

‘You love me no mo!’

60.

When I speak

Then to leave

Behind

Silence

With words

Racing

Ahead

To greet

You

By stepping

Out of the shadow

Of my dream

61.

Art listens so well

As to what the pen

Has to say

About what you can do

Only well

With me

When in love.

62.

Mind you

Nothing is at stake

But to fly a kite

It takes time

If you end up

Running

To take off

To the moon

63.

A bicycle

Is a delicate balance

Children learn

By keeping

Their parents

In-between

A true and the false love

With interim solutions

Being better

Than staying up late

Forever looking

At Paul Klee’s painting ‘Uebermut’:

A boy on bicycle

Racing down hill,

Tongue out, one foot in the air

And only one hand

On the handle

64.

Leave

Before anticipation

Makes

Your predictions

Become

True tautologies

65.

The night blends

Into the next day

When you promise me

Not to steal

More kisses

While I am asleep

66.

A demoralizing news

Is perfect

When it is claimed

Nothing works

And only your laughter

Allows an escape

Into the sun light

67.

The broadcaster

Defines himself

As the one

Who tells the news

By blowing

His nose

As if a ship

Ran aground

After the shore line

Had become

Your quivering body

Awake and awaiting

From head to toe

For the breeze from the sea

While all along

I believed

To be playing

Merely

With sand castles

68.

I walk alone

Along those shores

And think that many roads

Have become semantic turns

After your phone calls

From the special booths

In the European Parliament

Have ceased

But what I did understand then,

If not how to begin again

The excuse that all along

I was unable to come

As if busy redrawing

My personal map

In order to spot ahead of me

Your affinities

To places to which you belong

Far from those shores

Along which I walked

Or rather stumbled

Like a drunk humblebee

After having received

Your phone call

Containing so much

Nectar of love

69.

Fear

Is a single word

It leaves you

Breathless

But with the help of your breath

I can tell you my story

About love,

About you, a woman

Who gave so much

Without asking

That I return your love.

But now, here I am

To write you this poem

About sweet wine

And the endless night

I spend in your arms

Or when I felt your head

Resting on my chest

As we both wandered off

To a much needed sleep

70.

Comments

Puzzles

Projections

Decisions

Streams of thoughts

About this poker

Of love

With the highest bidder

Crazy about his flush

While she just smiles

Since her cards are low,

But with many aces

Up her sleeves

So that she knows he has lost

Before he ever started the game

And yet he claims innocence

As if he did not know

What he was getting into,

But then she was divine

And he had no other choice –

There she must forgive

71.

Night folds

The next day awakes

To Monday’s grumble

While Friday frets

About the weekend ahead

Even though those who return

From weekend relationships

Straddle fully

The gap

As to what was left behind

On Friday

Before plans

Where made

To escape

Without a plan

72.

Freedom

Is a word

Not spoken

When no commitment

To love

Speaks up

So then she listens

To another voice

Claiming violently

A complex link exists

Between her and him

Made out of fear

But this fiction will break

Under the weight

Of boredom

If it frightens away

Life itself

73.

Inching forward

Like a snail

I leave behind

My pain

Thinking

If you used

My love

To get another love

Then

There is nothing

To say

Near the abyss

To the ‘holy grail’

Since not a forlorn hope

If you know

What you seek in your relationship

To that other person

74.

I have taken

Things

In a stride

At Gare Midi

Where you departed and arrived

While I still stand there

With a box of chocolates

In my hands

And wonder

Why this gift of life

Is not enough,

When trains continue

To be on time,

But my inner watch not?

75.

You have always been consistent

In the denial

Of my basic need

So I managed only

To punch the pillows

But not to awake you

Out of a dream

You follow consistently

In search

Of what it takes

To speak a plain language

Free of infatuation

And frustrations

And all along you were aware

An exit strategy is needed

As if I am a business

From which to profit

Or a camel

To ride through the desert

Till the sun rises

To depart

In time, in time

76.

Arrive, arrive

I beseech you

My mouth is open

And my body with stamina

So I cross the ocean

In search of you

Once on the other side

There awaits America

77.

Hip hop

Before that rocking roll, o yes

Dancing shoes are off

Then the clothes

Most wonderful

Your body

Still today

I grasp for breath

At the sight

Of so much beauty

78.

My landlord complained

I put nails

Into the walls

To hang

Unmoveable

Pictures

With invisible frames

Singing

As if in Harry Potter

Messages

You need

To understand

Before you can enter

Again

My secret universe

Free of decrees

About the need

For love, not hate

79.

Should I leave

The last two pages

Of my lesson book

Empty?

Marked for life

Surrounded by doubts

Whispered in the shadow

Of a willow tree

Ready to whip

If you come too close

As if in a sectarian alliance with violence

While a scream on top of the lungs in a lift

Accompanies you soaring down to a hell

Where intrigue or damnation awaits you

Inflicted by the one who smokes

And does not give a dam

About what shall happen

To your soft skin

Devoured by the hunger

For laughter

After you decided

To hide the truth

From yourself

80.

Last but least

The last page

Being like the stone

In a cemetery

On which is written

Here lived and worked

Love

On unploughed fields

Now barren

Or just

Paved public squares

With water springing up

To the tune of artificial lights

While advisors

Crumble under the task

To crack the code of agencies

Abounding

To make Europe

Into a lucrative business

With the Commission

Dominating in every conversation

As if the omnipotent but anonymous party

We had known from the past

Post script

Closure after Delphi

Yet again I venture into my room

Yet again I leave open the door

If only the wind would come or you

To take me away to a solid ground

Where I can look again at the moon,

And then my heart shall tremble for you,

As if I see your face in front of me,

While my fingers ache to touch your skin

But not far away I hear the train rumbling by

Leaving behind in the darkness a clattering

Of simple spoons I left on the table

With which I wish to feed the swans next morning.

Rumor has it you are in town, not far away,

But still the distance is so great that a new bridge

Would be needed to span to that other shore

Where you now stand, deep in thought, a magic moment

Itself in case you remember the descend from Delphi

With the sea not so far away, it appeared, to give

Orientation for a while into a nearby future.

I held my hands as if to warm them in mid summer

But the escape into a dream like world was impossible,

Murmuring doubts had it that there could be no silence

In which to listen to thoughts gone now so empty

After I drove home with the seat beside me not occupied

By you who had come from so far away to be close by.

Breathing is now a virtue of lips moving silently

To sing a song to those unborn moments of trust

In which the experience of dust is to write what could become

A dance in the rain with each pearl a rainbow like prism

Letting every leaf glitter in the sun about to chase away the clouds

To make me become humble beside you, a wisdom in time,

Sure to leave your mark with all the empathy you have

For those emotions I cannot reach with my imagination,

At least not when all alone, I am just waiting for your sign.

Hatto Fischer 7.5.2008

^ Top

« The wind, my friend 2006 | Dialog mit dem Schweigen - Paros Gedichte I 2008 »

Ποιειν Και Πραττειν - create and do

Navigation

Lessons learned well by Hatto Fischer 2008