Stolen Moments


Gabriele Eckart once answered the question as to why she wrote, "um mich frei zu schreiben" (to write myself free). Not until I had read and heard the likes of Rilke, Benn, Borchert, Brecht, Hilbig, Kolbe, Eckart and Fühmann on the one hand, and Lorca and Cohen on the other hand did I venture to comprehend the depth of her words.

Add to that a different form of poetry, namely that found in music (sound as well as lyrics) by artists such as Greg Brown, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Nanci Griffith, Heinz Rudolf Kunze, Reinhard Mey, Konstantin Wecker, Jacques Brel, Fabrizio de André, Paco de Lucia and others, and the candescent memories of their epitaphs can be seen in countless fragments of the writings presented here. 

Needless to say, the collection of poetry presented on these pages is dedicated to all those who contributed in words, sounds, thoughts, images. But even more so to those who inspire and continue to foster an endless hunger and thirst for words and communication, interrupted only by moments in which I breathe sensibility while sharpening another pencil.

The title is a dedication and profound thank you to my muse – wherever she may be today. She should know that she was and continues to be an inspiration, an anchor, a friend – and my sanity.

I.     Alienation                 II.    Distant voices                 III.   Silent echoes