midsummer

midsummer

polished leaves.

grass grown tall.

SUN

SHINE

throws shade

gathered thickly

the poppies say “red red red”

colours

the world changes. colours
under the skylarks
all day long

sings the summer
my heart. flowers
till night falls

with feathers skyblue

where

1.
you never told me
where my place would be
when you moved into that
space
i had kept vacant
see, i am taking you everywhere
wandering aimlessly

2.
where do i go now

head in clouds
feet in cherry blossoms
a little girl on the swings

where
is the ground beneath
those feet now

hands will pick cherries soon

3.
don´t tell me
where
i do not want to know

empty space
aimless fruit

hanging
from an old tree
this flower learns

to be

a carefully guarded secret

she wraps her tears in a blank piece of paper
and pushes jasmine between the silence

of a gap in the wall of some ancient

temple or maybe just a broken 

piece of rock

flaming letters

fall unnoticed from the champaka
your name

already grew here

how can i ever know you

how can i ever know you

the rose in my heart
the moon in your hair

the stars falling from my eyes

will they shine
or will the moon grow dark
and the rose whither

will they stop falling
when
will they stop falling

i cannot smell the rose

i cannot grasp the moon

how
can i ever know you

a poem by Emmy Ball-Hennings in English

Emmy Ball-Hennings was born in Flensburg, where I grew up. She´s been a great inspiration to me. This is from her poetry collection "letzte freude" (last joy). She dedicated this poem to Ferdinand Hardekopf.

Lonely straying through the nights I think of you.
Sometimes I see a coat similar to yours.
And then I call you softly by your name.
My heart stops with grief.
Tired, I lean against the wall and close my eyes.
Many tears flow slowly to the ground.
The world stays far behind.
I am blown through white clouds into open arms.
A rain of roses falls after me and cools my sick eyes.
Everything is so white and gentle.
Oh how sweet.

a lullaby

ಬಾ ಮಗ, ನನ್ನ ಮಡಿಲಲ್ಲಿ ಮಲ್ಕೋ,
ಬಾ, ನಿನ್ನನ್ನು ಮಲಗಿಸುವುದು ಪದ್ಯ ಹೇಳುತ್ತೇನೆ,

ಸುಮ್ಮನಿರೋ
ಕಣ್ಣ್ಮುಚ್ಕೋ

ಕೇಳು ನನ್ನ ಪದ್ಯ:
ಜೋ… ಜೋ…
ಅದು ಅಕ್ಕನ ಪದ್ಯ
ಬರಲ್ಲ ನನಗೆ

ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಕೇಳು, ಮಗನೇ
ಅಮ್ಮನ ಪದ್ಯ (ಚಂದ್ರ)
ಅಜ್ಜನ ಪದ್ಯ (ಹೂ)

ಕೋನೆಗೂ
ನನ್ನ  ಎಳೆ  ಎದೆಯ
ಕನಸಿನ ಹಾಡು, ಪ್ರೀತಿಯ ಹಾಡು
ಒಂಟಿತನದ ಹಾಡು ಕೇಳೋ

ಸುಮ್ಮನಿರೋ

ಕಣ್ಣ್ಮುಚ್ಕೋ

ಈ ಮಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಹೂವಿನ ಕಣ್ಣೀರು

ನಕ್ಷತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ತಿಳಿಯುತ್ತೆ

ಬಾ ಮಗ, ಚಳಿಯಾಗುತ್ತೆ. 

melancholy

sad skies
rain rose petals
false jasmine
sweetens the sleepless night

teach me

teach me your language, teach me the magic
of your words, teach me
the song of the solitary bird

teach me
the fragrance of the forest flower, teach me the melody
of the raindrops, the dripping leaves
the trees hiding in the mist outstretched arms

teach me the sweetness of the wet rock
the butterflies' dances
teach me

the sweetness of your voice
i do not understand
your words

blindfolded
poetry drops from my ears

a lullaby from the heart

a glimpse of who i might be

now, at this age, she finally saw herself in the mirror, and with eyes closed, she saw from within that she had become a woman after all and the little girl was no more and that those round breasts, the reasonably slender figure, her long, slightly wavy, golden hair (no grey yet), her brown eyes and well-shaped mouth might after all be attractive. after the years of marriage and two children, she finally saw the woman she might be and she blushed in embarrassment that she should have thought of herself as a little girl for so long despite all that had happened and all the years. she had never thought of herself as beautiful and had not noticed mens' gaze on her, and maybe she had thus, by denying herself the blossoming of her femininity allowed it to grow sheltered, within... now she felt the "rare beauty" someone had seen not so long ago. after all those years she suddenly understood how, when the first signs of becoming a woman manifested on her, she had become scared at the thought of becoming desirable to men even though she seems to have always known that she desired this, too, and so the denial began, the desperate efforts to starve her womanhood, and later, the half-hearted concessions as her body needed warmth, caresses, and bearing children...
still scared, she chooses to dance... still scared...

flights of fancy

a quiet moment
the heart smiles
staying here it follows
the feeling
still there
oh linger only a little
present in the moment
i chose to
fly

happiness

1.
happiness is
within

sometimes

there is nothing
there

I
 f
  a
   l
    l

there is no
boundary
within

2.
happiness is
within
you
are
within

frightened
i turn away

this is not me this is not my self
this is
happiness
still

3.
happiness is
inside
myself

but what about
the pleasures of the ear
smell taste
touch

i still have a body
the mind still knows
love

searching

leaving the children to play with their father
i dive into the water
pushing off from the side of the pool
the water against my skin makes me
feel my whole body
fingertips to toes
and it feels good

effortlessly i find a rhythm
movement, breath
without thinking
push stretch pull turn
trying to find an equally easy rhythm
to poem about happiness
i go faster
faster, faster
only to feel the water's resistance
stronger
faster
faster

exhausted i return without words
the children are playing happily

Wenn

Es braucht ein ganzes Leben

um all' das zu tun
was gern ich noch täte
mit Dir

braucht es zwei

doch ich habe nur eins
und das schenke
gibst du mir Deins

ich Dir

(von 2003)