love @ the museum

there is a love affair happening
amongst the staff at the museum
amongst Titians and Venuses
amongst Van Dykes and Penises
they found each other

he gently brushes off
the dust from her
navy blue jacket
gentle nudge makes the invisible
speckles to hurl downwards
and deposit themselves
on the floor
or the chair
lucky ones making it
to the nearest painting
where they hope to stay
for another thousand years


22 June 2007

being me with you

why I think
I can't be me
fully
with you
when all you
want
is for me to be me
always
with you

2007

Guilt

I woke up with a guilt ridden mind
and tried to remember
what I had done wrong last night

I flicked through moments
like pages of a book
looking
for signs
of my inappropriateness

when I could not find
the evidence needed
instead of releasing my self
I performed
like a judge
a movement
with a hammer
and thumped
the pain
further in

Television

When my grandparents
returned from Germany
they settled in the back part of the house.

Most of their time is spent
in the living room where
my grandfather sits in the armchair
opposite the television
my grandmother on the couch
sitting beside him.

Sports channels are on all the time.
The running commentary in German
disrupted only by Mexican soaps
my grandmother follows fervently.

Sunday morning television
is exclusively reserved for the Mass
when prayers fill the air
like a smoke from my grandfather’s cigarette.

2006

Summer Lunch

It was time for the barbeque again.

My auntie, my mother and my grandmother
buzzed around the kitchen
solemnly preparing:
my mother chopped the tomatoes
my grandmother grated the cheese
my auntie mixed the minced meat and fresh eggs
with her bare hands.

My uncle walked past
carrying two kilograms of raw meat
placed on a tray
like a trophy he hunted down
earlier that morning.

My grandfather
walked around restlessly
with a cigarette in his hand
looking important and busy.

I avoided the line of fire
by opting instead to burry myself
behind the pile of dishes
which I proceeded to wash
slowly and with great care.

Soon, smell entered the kitchen
and the activity slowed down
tomatoes were chopped,
cheese grated
and the meat was ready.


2006

My mother lost her tears

She cried so much
and for so long
that she dried up.

Doctors in Belgrade
said she suffers
from an unusual condition.

They gave it a Latin name
something hard to pronounce
and even harder to carry around.

When my mother returned
she looked it up
in her large medical lexicon.

Big long words described
how and why and even when
it happened.

In details they portrayed
each night and each fight
measuring carefully how many tears she lost.

Satisfied at finding herself
described in so many new ways
my mother closed the book.

And cried.



2006

EinbahnStrasse (One way street)

Excitedly
she jumped in the car
and started giving us directions.
Friedrichstrasse, nach links,
dann gerade aus
dann rechts…

Her face looked so beautiful.
Her eyes so bright.

My sister spoke perfect German.

In between gerade aus
and nach links
pointing at Leidl
she said:
Ich habe einen Hut gefunden
im Einkaufswagen
wo ich ihn lies
im Supermarkt.

Oooo so sweeeeet!
I said
you found a small cat
in the supermarket.

Puzzeled look.
Gerade aus.
And a laugh that wouldn’t stop.

No, not a cat,
I found a hat
I lost couple of weeks ago,
she said (In English this time).

So when she proceeded to say
Der ist nicht schön aber praktisch
I gave up on the game
and instead of giving each word a name
accepted
things between us
will never be the same.

2006

Protection

We must protect
the space
inside our fluid walls
whose plaster
belongs to no one
and the ground
on which it stands
collects no rent

We must look after
that space
where softness and tenderness
are the highest assets
and can not be converted
easily for profits

We must guard
this space
as if it is the last one
untouched
unspoiled
and free

…………………………..

My love
that is the space
for which
you can not get
mortgage


2006

A Place off Essex Street

Walking up Essex Street
a slight tingle in my belly
knowledge
I will soon be arriving
at the place I left
eight years ago.

It is my first time there.

And everyone seems happy
to see me again
I am embraced
by the arms of friends.

That used to be.

Like two lanes
on the motorway
our lives
run in parallel.


2006

is it not enough to say 'it is plain wrong to kill an innocent man'


judgments I am not here to pass
protocols I do not wish to fulfill

caught
between me and the other
a misunderstanding
on a slippery scale
where time does not lend
its comforting space
I run
to not get caught
between
the politics
and
matters of the heart

judgment I am not here to pass
as it has already been stamped
with a loud bang
all was finished
all too quick
all too soon

perhaps, cowardly my position may seem
but
the percentage of prejudice
I can not count

and yet
I am called upon
to act
to react
is it not enough to say
'it is plain wrong to kill an innocent man'

pained my guts feel
and deep inside I reel
at the insanity
that is beginning to envelop me


2005

I will be reading poetry this Sunday, at Foyles Gallery, London
details below:

Growing

I grow by looking at places
which hurt
looking at them
intently
purpesfully
until a movement occurs
a physical kick
like carrying a child
a new me
is born
each time I look
at places
which hurt
I face the pain
and grow
out of it.

2005

Mother Tongue

can not write
mother
your tongue is in my ear
can not hear
properly
there have been some problems
in this transmission
from your womb to my heart
as I experience great turbulence
from time to time
like someone wants to rip my soul apart
and you won’t let them.

© Margareta Kern, 1999

How thick does my skin need to be?

How thick does my skin need to be?
7 inches
3 inches

Or shall I speak in centimeters?
5 cm
10 cm
or 20?

Or is this still too thin
too weak to hold
all false smiles

Or maybe I need to speak in miles?

How long a distance
does it need to be
between you and me?

© Margareta Kern, 2005

Hurt

A memory of you
Lying down
Alone
Puzzled
Accused
Trying to understand devious ways
We humans stay in control.
Trying to untie the knot
I placed in your guts.

Just because I didn't want to carry it
Alone.

I am sorry to have caused you pain.
So unnecessary, I know
So habitual, I know.

Stand up my love
No need to carry my burden any more
Stand up and let's take a walk
Gentle steps away from that place
Where we both become strangers
So quickly
So soon.

© Margareta Kern, 2005

elisabeth

dirty dishes must be washed!
as we know
this has become
the norm
of polite behavior.
elisabeth however likes to live them behind her desk
in the office.

no one likes her
but then again
no one is like her.

or are they?!

space space
beneath her desk
behind her facial mask
estee lauder
or something even louder
I wouldn’t be able to tell you at this point
and probably not at any point
because elisabeth is not someone that would gladly unbutton her soul right there in front of me.

her legs however
there is something about her legs
she’s got them
two heavy weight champions of the office
two pretentious and too present
o what a present it is for us
to have her

© Margareta Kern, 2000

The City

High heels
higher than those council block of flats
you see
when you take a train
from the City
to Essex
or somewhere even closer
even tighter.

A woman
bought a dress and a jacket
for one hundred and sixty seven pounds
she was about to meet her boyfriend
in the pub
around the corner.

He paid for it
even though he wasn’t there.

Women.

High.
Taking high places
while wearing high heels,

higher
then those council block of flats
you see when you take a train
from the City to Essex
or somewhere even closer
even tighter.

© Margareta Kern, 2000

Engleskinja

I pitala sam se
dok smo razgovarale,
kako da joj pozelim sretne Bozicnje i Novogodisnje praznike,
da je poljubim dva puta u obraz
ili da je zagrlim,
znajuci da ce joj to biti neugodno,
suvise blizu,
preintiman ljudski kontakt.

I kad smo se zagrlile i pozelile sve najbolje,
osjecala sam njen strah u sebi,
njena odvojenost je stvarala prostor izmedu nas,
prostor neprimjetan pogledom,
niti ogranicen formom,
ali ipak tako prisutan.

© Margareta Kern, 1998

A New Girl In Town

She smelled on vanilla ice cream
as she entered the train.

And was reading a book
with a foreign name.

Was new to this town
I guessed
by looking at the way
she dressed.

She buried her face
inside the pages
and it probably will be ages
before she will look up.

A new girl in town.


© Margareta Kern, 2003

A Letter To A Friend

I sent it.

So easy these days
just press send
and it is done
before you know it
it is gone.

And so is a friend.


© Margareta Kern, 2002