One dreary winter‘s day

I might at last be ready

To leave this heated shell

And lavishly start salting

The frozen streets of love.

Like Satan᾽s tiny insect pet,

After dozing God knows where,

For days, persumably, or weeks,

Is suddenly — just — there;

Death, by a buzzing, soft sensation,

Insists on its existence

And — if it should choose to stay —

On the illusion of resistance.

A Walk in Winter

In the middle of the surface,
a tiny island, looking stuck.
Anatomy then indicates:
on the pond - a frozen duck.
Pondering, I realize,
Bloody Hell, it‘s cold as fuck.

Into The Maelstrom

This is another piece of lyrics that I wrote for the band Sweetwood (based in Burgdorf). They're an acoustic prog band and good friends of mine, so when they asked me if I wanted to write something for an amazing piece of music that sounds like a very proggy rendition of the James Bond theme, I didn't have to think twice. I think the text is about somebody trying to move on into a new and more adventurous stage of life and is left by his fiancée and soulmate at this watershed. I wanted to do something with confidence and fear, in an overly epic setting. So here we go:

Into the Maelstrom

A wreath of silver on your hair

Glistening surf from everywhere

Grab my hand and be assured

We won’t be denied

Any of our promises

You’ll wake up by my side

Your pulse is pumping in our palms

All you fear is all we know

The universe’s exit door

Gaping mouth below

Into the Maelstrom

The final leap of faith at last

Together we can change the past

But as the boundless firmament

Turning pitch black blue

Starts closing in around us now

Something’s shining through

A flawless constellation

The moment’s come to redefine

The concept of serenity

I’ll be all yours and make you mine

Your pulse is pumping in our palms

All you fear is all we know

The universe’s exit door

Gaping mouth below

With bated breath, you show your face

All that matters comes undone

The whirling vortex calls us down

(But) you gravitate towards the sun

Doubt is dancing in your eyes

And seething in your soul

Eradicating paradise

Swallowing you whole

Your tears beg for forgiveness

In disbelief, I turn away

The elements between our lives

As everything turns into spray

Into the Maelstrom

2014

AB – far-away hugs were necessary

AZ helped me bend legality

CS – high hopes, full glasses, broken promises

DZ – distance is inspiring

FU: “Screw you, guys, we’re going for a hike!”

GB – a sad goodbye – that was overdue

LZ – secrecy’s our secret

MK – more than once the only bro amidst so many cons

RR kept revolutionizing when we were in town

SR – still, you must be kidding

SS – a hidden coin, a wake-up mandolin and divinest (non)sense

TK – aphrodisiac aphorisms

US – a most lovely helpful being

VK – listened, laughed – hello at last 

2013

AB’s voice and food were just exquisite

AK vanished after a jolly episode of snowy heat

AZ and I were closer than ever

CS had ups and downs – glad we’re back on track

DD and I discussed the issue of mothers

DZ and I discussed the issue of women, death and morals

FU laughed her head off and opened up

GB – my darling: tender, brutal, everything

GR was the man, the friend, the bro

JB quoted Hagrid and kept walking

LB was the quiet voice who’s always right

LZ finally started talking about what matters

MK insulted me repeatedly – and with good reason

RR told the kids how much the fish was

RS was a piece of the sky gone blank

RU and I told each other jokes of male proportions

SR played the main theme, an interlude, the main theme

SS – a greater future lies ahead, we believe

VK expressed her love for orange beards
VM was my co-teacher and fellow beard friend

A Moment (Just) In Time

Ghastly Weather – We Said Hi –

A Talk And We Shook Hands – And Hence –

Beyond Your Stuttering I Will

Remember Only Elequence

Prey to Thee

O Thy kingdom stay

Deliver us from thinking

God AlmighTV

Love Letter

I send my love, my sweetest kiss

To him whom I do love so dearly,

To him who's English and who's Swiss,

To him whose name is Urs Sincerely.

Trains

The bench is hard, my hands are stiff Electric light is in the air More Departures and Arrivals Of which my eyes are unaware A stinging cold clings to my toes As I read that you are late I notice that there are white caps On the trains – and still – I wait – But if it wasn’t for your face I would go back to my retreat If it wasn’t for your smile I would go home and warm my feet

In the Meantime

AA impressed me much and always marched ahead AL gave me hope and later struck me dead CS, too often far away, was real at last DJ and me, we drank ourselves into the past FU was a sweetheart and a guiding light GR helped me puke my soul into the night GS was on his knees and played on my guitar JS – a faithful, lovely friend – still raised the bar MK and me shared space and sounds and visions MW meant many cups of coffee and decisions OK – one of the most stellar guys in town RR did not deserve to feel so down RS proved that warmth and passion need some friction RU experienced both freedom and restriction SS survived so many odysseys with me ST taught me some responsibility

It is

It is the I believe you, the says who The no I don’t, the yes I do It is the killing you, not making stronger The no not yet and the no longer It is the that or this, the here or there The let me know, the I don’t care It is the always now or never The everlasting never ever It is the dead and gone, the here to stay The hold me tight, the go away

Shelter

The snow starts gathering on your hair

A friendly way for something to betoken

The place has come, the time is here

To heal what’s whole, to rearrange what’s broken

No more wisdom, no more words

No treaties – and surrender – please

A fir tree gives us shelter so

We might just try to cuddle up and freeze

Marooned

(some more lyrics for the as yet unnamed band I'm writing for. This is a song of about eight and a half minutes and it's about a guy marooned on an island, feeling desperate because he was left by a woman. He can't leave the island until he has learnt - to cut a long story short - not to substitute lack of personality with relationships. Before the last six lines come in, there is a two minutes instrumental section so the break in setting and mood isn't actually that striking.)

A lightning in my eyes / A twitch inside my hand

Sickening sensations / A sudden strip of sand

Tangled up in tang / My life is washed ashore

These are not the riverbanks / That I was steering for

Stripped of all my sanity / Struggling to stand

Breathing and marooned / On godforsaken land

Salt in my saliva / I stumble to the trees

The heavens keep on shaking / (Shake) me down upon my knees

In this dreamless, hopeless night

A graceful spectral light

Can you hold me now I’m wrecked?

Can you help me to connect?

I must know why she was taken

(And) I need answers to awaken

The will to breathe once more

Give me someone to adore

Following the sirens / Groping in the silence

Tiptoeing through fire and / Screaming

As I keep on falling / I hear echoes calling

Me to give it all a / Meaning

Spirit, guide me deep into / the chasms of my soul

Help me, heal me and / Spirit, make me whole

Spirit, with your guidance / I stumble to my past

A distant silhouette / Spirit, her at last –

The contours of my once beloved / Motionless and carved in stone

I fall down at the sacred socket / Dejected and alone

Gazing up and hoping for / A repentant and benign

Look upon her past / I see her face is mine

Sunshine in my nostrils / Seagulls – above ground

I open up my eyes / And hear the rushing sound

Of the waves that carry / my lonely raft back home

Of the winds that blow / that guide me through the foam

I’ve cast away dependence / And broken all the spells

I have become much more / Than just somebody else

Choosing You Again

Heaving many sighs Rave about a text to sync Inventing worlds of touch Stories make us go Tell one another all Inverting even jazz

Serenity

(I've been asked to write some lyrics for a very promising progressive rock/metal band and this is the outcome for the first song. I realize that the approach to writing lyrics is very different writing "normal" poetry in terms of structure, rhythm, topics etc. Hope you enjoy it - maybe the entire song will be recorded some day. - R.)

My ever dying demons / hovering behind

The trees to lure me back / into the mists of my mind

Taunting disbelief / lurking in their eyes

No belated miracles / no victorious cries

I ride across the heavens and gallop through the gates

I silence all the voices that whisper it’s too late

I sing along with thunder and bolt into the sea

At the bottom, there’s no air that keeps on drowning me

Humming songs of triumph / in my soul tonight

A myriad of sparks / outshines the lunar light

On nocturnal pastures / I feel the healing sleet

Wash away the cracks / in the mire on my feet

In the cloudless sky / no more birds of prey

Zephyrs gliding on my skin / carry all the thorns away

Still a sense of triumph / resonates in me

As I stand here breathing / in serenity

Effervescent soul

In serenity

Make a Wish

Too much chaos in my mind

Because of all she said

And lyrics by Tom Waits were still

Resonating in my head

I was lost in reverie

And all that I can now recall

Is that my eyes were fixed upon

The nocturnal gypsum wall

It may have been a shooting star

That cast cold light upon my back –

That shed a second’s shine of silver

Into the shapeless, silent black

And if it was a distant lightning

Or a car or who can say –

There was barely half a thing

To wish for anyway

Lovemelovemenot

He may say yes a thousand times But nothing – ever – will suffice So why do you believe – me – when – I wouldn’t have – denied it – twice?

Swinging Teabag

Carving circles in the air Hypnotize it with your stare Mug this final destination Unexplored criteria Teabag, tumble to your bed Zodiac, come set me free

Class Reunion

Hey, I’m glad that you could make it It’s really great to have you here How you doing, guys, come in Champagne, a glass of wine? A beer ? Don’t worry, guys, I’m not the boy With the Bible anymore Remember how I – yeah, that’s right Man, I must have been a bore – You see I’ve got my own address I’ve changed my name and attitude – And now I’ve got my PhD I can afford the finest food I’m building up my own ideals A workaholic in my prime Money, self and confidence Sex and drugs from time to time But she – she sits there and avoids Looking – smiling back at me – And I can see – That she preferred The weirdo that I used – to be