Schwervon!

On the heels of a late night Fire drill.
We relearn some valuable lessons.

Rule Number 1
Never get into a van
With no seats after a punk rock
Concert. Even if the man driving tells you he is a fan of your music.

Rule number 2
Never trust a man named Bernhard
From Mannheim.

Rule number 3
Remember to love and forgive
Your tribe
even if they scare you
The night before.

But we are back in Offenbach.
And now we are often back
In Offenbach.
And in Offenbach
We are often happy
To be back.

Like the geese in the lake
We have found a nice place to land.
The air is still and the water is clear.
The sun is not shining
But it’s okay because we are warm inside
Together
The sheep are happy to have their
Ears scratched.
We feel.
We talk.
We listen.
And we work it out under a cloudy sky.

Friday night in Freiburg
We choose to dance
In the dark places

We run like we are born to run
Until we run into the wall.
Can’t go over it.
Can’t go around it.
Gotta go through it.

There was a time.
Can you remember?
A time when we were not at war.
Are you brave enough
To remember
When there was no war?

Do you remember A time
When there were No pillows?
We slept on the beach.
Like crabs
We laid our eggs
In the sand.
We flipped and flopped
And tried not to pinch ourselves
With our own claws.

Please forgive me
If my eyes pinch you
Like a crab’s claw.
And my clamshell is
Too tight to open.
Sometimes I will bait my hook
With the smelliest fish
To hook your cheek.
But please know…
You are so much more
Than seafood to me.