a pearl on the Rhine
population: not so much
Bundeshauptdorf Bonn
the smell of hot tea
and behind the green curtains
brown & yellow leaves
Hello, Nutella
I've looked for you for so long
and now I've found you
the escalators
of Galerie Kaufhof
whirlwind of commerce
Bonn is a city
you might not choose to visit
nice place to live, though
cerebus statue
barking at me silently
on 9/11
der Thuringer Mann
doing the things that only
Thuringer Mann kann
the Villenviertel
the East Egg of Godesberg
flooded with sunlight
Linie 16
carries me asleep into
Wesseling daybreak
Schoener Hofgarten
die gruene, grosse Wiese
Frisbee, anyone?
Red regional trains
connect the dots cross country
to Oktoberfest
In the park one day
student and old veteran
discuss Europe's past
Uni-Markt junkies
I wish I could tell them that
needles aren't their friends
Cafe Goettlich sign
a warm magenta welcome
in the autumn rain
sperrmuell ist nicht muell
well, technically it is trash;
trash that's worth saving
at the Spielhalle
while men smoke and place wagers
I write an e-mail
one thirsty midnight
I took an epic bike ride
to the Tankstelle
after the movie
I gave Susi a ride home
in a shopping cart
At the Hauptbahnhof
Schloss-Drinkers get together
and drink cans of Schloss
Jablonski the bus
southbound on the autobahn
it's Berlin or Bust!
a circular dance
jump and kick the hacky sack
up into the clouds
Werner Hubschrauber's
Hochsteppender Steppenwolf
das war sein Geisttier
Frueh, Reissdorff, Gaffel
Kuppers, Dom, Sion, Gilden
So viele Koelsche
der Brauerei Bonnsch
glasses with a built-in grip
leckeres bier, auch
statues and hedges
reflecting ponds and cabbage
gardens of Schloss Bruehl
a promising Herbst
now leaves and hopes have fallen
guess I'll go to Prague
scenes of childhood
reflected in sunglasses
worn by a young boy
Poppelsdorfer Schloss
genau ein kilometer
vom Hauptgebaeude
Bus sagt: "Naechster Halt
Am Botanischen Garten"
Hier steigen wir aus
lamplight from a house
stained-glass window in my mind
one November night
Schneekugelanschlag
in the Ippendorfer field
almost killed Felix
People slide and fall
icy Muensterplatz at night
Beethoven watches
Gluehwein warms the soul
stroll along the Weinachtsmarkt
taking in the sights
inside the globe lamp
the coolest spot in my room
I'll never visit
die Spanierennen
tanzen den ganzen Abend
ich spiele Kicker
little red candles
stundenbrenning down the haus
with a happy glow
cutting through the fog
of a German emotion
ein trennbares verb
We drank a whole Kranz
before our train left Kologne
wreath of little beers
Mangelexemplar
a great name for a punk group
fucked-up example
Sovjietlokal
Wodka mit Weissbaer special
macht dich besoffen
the green light above
Dottendorfer Jugendkreuz
we thought it was France
my African friends
smoked me out of house and home
but I still love them
if I had my way
thousands of Schoko-Kuss crepes
would be mine each day
Konvikstrasse Frau
Can't tell if she's real or stone
so I start to cry
der Mann fragte mich
ob ich etwas Kleingeld hab
leider hab ich nix
A city of screens
the coolest kids see movies
at Kinopolis
in the Kellerbar
the cigarette smoke travels
so high from such depths
Egal was es ist:
Fahrplaene, Landeskunde
Chris Cho weisst alles
rats chase each other
through the Christmas Village scene
im Kaufhoffenster
would you like to hear
eine kleine Pfeifmusik?
so ein geiles Lied
Silvester am Rhein
drunken rockets of midnight
World War II again
takes a train to laugh
and it takes a train to cry
but not, to giggle
Cafe Zebulon
a Guinness and a baguette
Bobby's Stammkneipe
with another day
comes another disaster
pass the Chipsletten
time to ride the rails
let the Deutsche bahn shake you
out of this numbness
Hextentanz Abend
the over-forty parties
at the Godesburg
Museumsmeile
invites you to visit its
miles of museums
Rafael's Zimmer
schoene Musik und Tueten
gab es immer da
huge and incomplete
the Deutsche Post gebaeude
houses my lost mail
V-town legacies
Easyman rule number 1:
You must love Rasta
After those parties
of Godesberger grandeur
I felt like Gatsby
lost traveler notes
the letters that spell "Let's Go"
Also spell "Get Lost"
rats chase each other
are their amorous pursuits
different from our own?
with the price increase
the schoenes wochenende
ist nicht mehr so schoen
Graf Zeppelin Bar
my hopes for romance have crashed
into the beermat
am Weiberfastnacht
Krawatten are cut in half
blame it on the dames
afternoon at Till's
inhale smoke and exhale clouds
from the waterpipe
the Rhein is in flames
fireworkaleidoscope
all along the banks
Lord Byron once wrote:
Drachenfels, the castled crag
snarls over the Rhine
my favorite brand
also the most mispronounced:
Gauloises Cigarettes
Juridicum bum
his prosthetic leg provides
a pillow and limb
painter, rapscallian
crooner, mooch, American
Arthur's many roles
I have a dream of
opening a kebab chain
"doener dynasty"
City Pix a fight
with my appetite, punches
it out with Pommes
Along my bike path
mysterious gazebo
sehnsucht of shadows
He answered the phone
"Freiwilliges Feuerwerk?"
Monkey bar prankster
baby statue moons
the other side of the Rhein
wo die Sonne scheint
South of Canonplatz
Tute und ein Koelsch dabei
garden of eden
face smeared with flowers
Till holds up a broken string
points at me and swears
I'm a good Dryad
I have trees to tend to and
trees to tend to me
ride the Strassenbahn
to Bertha von Suttner Platz
make your dreams come true
trees stand tall along
Poppelsdorfer Promenade
mittsommernachtstraum
It's a long way home
from Rammersdorf to Siegburg
wenn man zu fuss geht
electric summer
Gitarre und Gewitter
death have no mercy
Steffi relaxiert
getraenk und ein Buch dabei
along the green dock
Rheinland Apollo
rests his elbows on the banks
he's in no hurry
mein korper blieb still
aber meine seele flog
weit, sehr weit, von hier
Spinat mit Feta
oder Pizza Salami
Cala-Dor Fete
vorsichtig bleiben
Tueren schliessen selbstaetig
and don't reopen
in den Weinbergen
wo mein Fahrrad versteckt ist
spielen die Zwerge
gemalt, geschrieben
die klassischen figuren
Tod und das Maedchen
just about to sleep
when the SMS arrives:
explodieren wir?
struck by Apollo
Hoelderlin's Hyperion
is speaking through me
Rheinauereise
I've been walking through this park
all night and all day
He lets his hair down
and dances like a dervish
er ist der Bobby
end of the party
a guitar watches over
the sleeping lady
the Abschiedspartie
we all sat in a circle
and talked about life
seit wann bin ich hier?
so viel ist aber passiert
in elf Monaten
echoes of a laugh
as we head out of this town
off the primrose path
About the Author: Lucas Wetzel studied at the University of Bonn from 2001-2002 through an exchange with the University of Kansas, where he graduated in 2004. He currently lives in the United States. He would like to dedicate this project to his friends.
1 comment:
Glad to have found your blog - and this poetry site especially. Keep writing . . . those who are good always should.
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