street art in berlin
.
we make our stars of folded paper,
urban night sings loud around us,
not of love, but
from a scar spiked chest,
providing
effervescent hope & nations
mirror in his eyes,
Berlin is male.
He loves you on the edge of brutal,
grows, groWs, GRoWs & thrusTs
himself into you, i can hardly walk, but
still want more, see
Salvador Dali worked bread crumbs
in his paintings cause he said
Art should be edible, that there is meaning
even if you can’t explain the moment
you hold brush to paper, it goes
deeper & with soft down tickles
at your heart,
cops patrol in the park, a little snail
leaves glistening trails in moist grass,
& i write an email on my phone,
walk on earthy paths towards
the Siegessäule, climb up
all the stairs that bring me to the top,
& look at him,
with wobbly knees,
his proud face, slotted once,
now scarred & shimmering
in the spring sun, he will love me
without many words, diplomacy’s
in Brussels, here’s a soldier,
not covering the wounds,
taken for the land he loves,
there’s nails & eagles,
bears roar on his chest, &
knowing how to hold a sword,
his hands are far from tender
– and his kiss tastes
of a freedom suffered for
.
..really this city went under my skin..
over at dVerse Brian has us asking someone to give us 2 nouns, 3 verbs, 3 adjectives, 2 random words and with these write a poem.. mine were…star, snail, effervescent, loud, slotted, grows, provides, sings, bread, tickles….. we also have a second prompt option today, given by Gretchen who asks to write a poem, inspired by a song.. so…wanna join the fun..? see you at 3pm EST when we open the pub doors…
one, finally!
…congratz Brian…. LOL…
yay i got it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
haha.
i love this…the personaification of the city as a lover…and a sturdy one at that…smiles…this opens with a bit of magic in the stars…nice working in of dali…that actually may be my fav part…the philosophy on art…the xlose is phenom…really…the taste of the kiss….wow…really good piece claudia…
smiles.
Sometimes a city breathes life into a poets words…and every now and then…a poet can make a city breathe like those moving through it…bravo on giving life to the city.
god, this is magic. love your work.
What shrinks said. It’s some of the best poetry on the planet. End of.
Berlin is male. Funny, I thouht of it always as female. Why is that? Sometimes I ponder the Universe as being alive, tender, breathing, loving, kissing, with wounds to prove his ability to defend your honor.
…i really like the notion of having Berlin personified Claudia… it gives us more chance to feel it deeper in our skin and bones…. i think the lively city becomes ever livelier after your wonderful words here… excellent Poet…. smiles…
It’s a brilliant answer to the challenge set. I’d fall for any city arrayed like this.
i adore comparing anything to a lover..This is so well done with a tenderness in the strength of a country…thank you
A passionate lover! You do make us want to visit!
You can totally tell the city is in your blood Claudia. Wonderful stuff!
Love this, Claudia. “Berlin is male. He loves you on the edge of brutal. And his kisses taste as a freedom suffered for.” Your poem gives me chills. I wanna go!
Wonderful
Hi! Claudia…
it’s his scars, i fell in love with first, then his hands
“we make our stars of folded paper,
urban night sings loud around us,
not of love, but
from a scar spiked chest,
providing
effervescent hope & nations
mirror in his eyes,
Berlin is male…”
Thanks, for sharing the beautiful image and I like the way you incorporated…
“2 nouns, 3 verbs, 3 adjectives, 2 random words
“star, snail, effervescent, loud, slotted, grows, provides, sings, bread, tickles”
…in your poetic words as you made Berlin come to life.
I hope that you, and your readers, have a great weekend too!
deedee
The city as a human – male- is really evocative for me. Your dance is true in this. I am completely convinced you are in love. : )
I love this! I love the stars out of paper, the romance of it all, now I want to see Berlin for sure. What an amazing photo!
I will try to do Brian’s prompt as well.
Wow you and Berlin had quite the affair, your husband may have a few words for you at your lair..lol
Deeply affective… this is one of the finest city-love poems I have ever read.
“He loves you on the edge of brutal
.
.
.
– and his kiss tastes
of a freedom suffered for”
So many gorgeously-descriptive lines here, far too many to quote back.
Visiting Berlin is still on my bucket list, and I begin to think that once I do I will never want to leave his arms…
I like the personification of the city as a lover….scar spiked chest, a soldier not covering his wounds, the taste of the kiss of a freedom suffered for ~
I have not been there Claudia ~ Thanks for bringing us with you in your travels ~
This is really lovely, Claudia. Another favorite of yours. The random words helped too! As there is this dichotomy between the personal and the more grand.
I have not been to Berlin for many years – I was there in 1965, believe it or not. I was quite young and found it incredibly sad and a little frightening–the wall still up and people rather haunted – WWII and the cold war active specters. My daughter went recently and the pictures looked wonderful. And your pictures too. Lovely. k.
Awesome, write, Claudia. Really enjoyed your city/lover.
I think the best way to be loved is without many words. And I do not generally trust too tender hands in an adult. This is the type of man who uses the sun & the tides as his clock.
You give me enough of Berlin here to make me gasp. If I were younger I might feel attracted to that rough lover who your narrator takes in, scars and all. Perhaps I could approach it more gingerly through its red veins, and sculpted ways. (I have a piece of the brief and deadly wall locked in my china cabinet; mayhaps I’ll put this poem near it to tackle its energy.)
Way deep under your skin! Fantastic, Claudia! In my next life I will be a traveler…a desire born out of reading your poetry!
As JFK said, “Ich bin ein Berliner!”, seeing that city is on my bucket list too. This one really cooks, Claudia. As a man wearing ten kinds of scars proudly, comfortable in my own skin, as a Seattle lover, born, bred, and abandoned–this poem perks me up, fills me with passion; thanks.
this is fantastic. The last two lines nailed it–I’ve never heard it described that way (I can’t even describe “it”!)–that earned sufferer’s kiss. Beautiful
Don’t know how you managed to make something out of those.
From the victory monument to Dali’s stale breadcrumbs, it is an amazing journey.
Lovely, a little bit of thursday’ss prompt as well
ooooooo, I want to meet this Mr. Berlin! Awesome Claudia, just simply AWESOME!
Each city has its personality, its history and scars and how perfectly you personify Berlin in this one. Scars, indeed. Just an amazing poem, Claudia.
I felt the “love making” of a country before, but it wasn’t consentual
Excellent job with the words given. Always a treat.
Berlin with all its goodness! Bringing in Dali as a consequence gives that added feel for one great city. Nicely Claudia!
Hank
Berlin feels like someone I could have met.
Love those bronze statues! Beautiful!! And this poem, wow–I feel the intensity of how Berlin felt to you–and the breadcrumbs in the painting, didn’t know that and so happy to know it, something about it really makes me smile
Claudia;
I loved the whole thing but as an art history minor my favorite stanza was this:
“Salvador Dali worked bread crumbs
in his paintings cause he said
Art should be edible, that there is meaning
even if you can’t explain the moment”
Art should be edible and this poem provides plenty of substance.
Cheers!
I love the way you personified the city as a lover – I love Berlin too
Masterful piece of writing…enjoyed it from start to finish.
That was violent, richly informed by decades of history, and disturbingly sexy. What’s not to love? Also, the sense of place switched from immersive, to sort of outside, objective, then back, as if constantly shifting to read this man of a city. Just wonderful. This is my favorite of all your work I have read this far. So good.
Oh, also as an Art Historian:
“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” – Salvador Dali
What an amazing sense of place you created. Wonderful!
Loving the way you describe Berlin. Wonderful personification. Can I suggest you listen to Berlin Song by Ludovico Einaudi if you haven’t heard it? He’s one of my favourite musicians. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhfwI3gIkzA
I love the ‘snail’s glistening trail’ and the ‘bears roaring on his chest’..and the beautiful sculptures! …and the great words you chose gave this so much power;)
Fantastic write, Claudia! I really enjoyed the personification of the city.
Love this…”knowing how to hold a sword, his hands are far from tender”…says tons about the city, the people…thanks for the excursion.
Claudia, i love this..s & thrusTs
himself into you, i can hardly walk, but
still want more…and every line. I feel this, I see it, it’s fantastic. LOVE it!
Berlin has indeed suffered greatly – some of that self-inflicted. Like many others, I enjoyed the personification of the city. Berlin is somewhere I would love to visit; it was almost impossible when I was young unless your family was stationed in West Berlin.
That was awesome, really richly satisfying read, loved the closure esp, though its hard to choose any one bit. You make one want to drop everything and rush off to see him!
Yes, Berlin is a city that gets under my skin as well. It is scarred and flawed, suffering its past, yet also exciting and vibrant – the urgency and the thrust that you also convey so well!
My absolute favorite of yours, Claudia… especially like:
Berlin is male.
He loves you on the edge of brutal,
grows, groWs, GRoWs & thrusTs
himself into you, i can hardly walk, but
still want more
You really do choose superb titles. The body of the piece is also very well-wrought here
Raw architecture of a city and the feeling with it
Somehow I knew you would take Brian’s prompt and run with it. I was unable to post mine as the link expired but posted it anyway given Gretchen’s prompt of music. Somehow you are always ten steps ahead. Love this, being the artist that I am and Dali being one of my favorites.
You wrote beautifully about your country and heroes.
wow, Claudia, this is remarkable. not only were you able to compose such a defined poem out of a random set of words, you were able to tailor the words to your poetics rather than your poetics tailored to the words. Fantastic piece, keeping true to your own voice in the process. Thanks