Bill's Haiku

Yes is the wrong word
Ever circling the abyss
I won't sleep tonight

(W.K.)

Bill's Haiku

You're dreaming of him
On a rainy day in the woods
It doesn't ever matter

(W.K.)

Bill's Haiku

Kiss the girls goodbye
Faking it goes only so far
Life is but a dream

(W.K.)

Bill's Haiku

It's a flying shoe
The jerks were singing a chant
I let it all go

(W.K.)

Bill's Haiku

The bus arrived late
Girls gossiping on the curb
This is not my fate

(W.K.)

Bill's Haiku

He was an old man
He knew what he was doing
Frankly I did not

(W.K.)

Bill's Haiku

In the beginning
I didn't think it was funny
Now I'm not so sure

(W.K.)

Bill's Haiku

Again I can say
Today I did write nothing
Relaxing in bed.

(W.K.)

Miniatures #17

One of the main reasons I have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning is that I don't like to have my dreams interrupted. Once the alarm goes off, and I'm half awake, I close my eyes again and try with all my might to continue that interesting dream I was just having. Usually it doesn't work, though...

W.K.

Miniatures #16

I usually wear a Borsalino-style hat, but this year my mother bought me one with a buckle around the rim, so it's now a bit more Western-style than classic.

This weekend in Berlin Ursula and I were at the subway station under the Alexanderplatz. A woman walked by shoving a pram with 2 wee kids, a boy and a girl, in it. The boy pointed his finger at me and exclaimed: "Look, Mommy, a cowboy!"

W.K.

Vignettes #48

(ph: W.K.)

Ursula was standing with a small crowd at the bus stop waiting for her bus. All of a sudden a greyhound dashed by the crowd on the narrow sidewalk.

A few seconds later a man came running obviously after the dog shouting: "Stop, Keira, come back here, stop, Keira!"

And shortly after that a woman rushed by simultaneously talking on her cell phone: "That's it, we've had it, we're bringing him back to the animal shelter - today!"

Franz Kafka: The Departure

I ordered that my horse be fetched from the barn. The servant didn't understand. I went to the barn myself, saddled and mounted the horse. In the distance I heard a trumpet blow, I asked him what it meant. He knew nothing and had heard nothing. At the gate he stopped me and asked: "Where is the master riding to?" "I do not know", I said. "Just away from here, just away from here. Evermore away from here, that is the only way I can reach my destination."
"So you know your destination", he asked. "Yes", I replied, "that is what I just had said. Away from here - that is my destination."

(translated by W.K.)

Miniatures #15

I generally express my personal opinions moderately, and in verday life I hardly ever get into an argument. However, online, especially on discussion baords, my moderate opnions very often get drastic reactions from my friends. It seems that in the realm of virtual communication your standpoints appear to be so much more offensive.

W.K.

Miniatures #8

Just to see Ornette Coleman, one of the last living legends of jazz, in concert, I drove down to Austria with my pal Gerhard. It was 7 hours driving back and forth, all-day standing in 4 separate concerts with a lumbago killing my back, bumping into an oldtime pal I hadn't seen for 10 years.

And then the sensational music of Ornette Coleman, still sounds fresh, although he's already 79 years old and not physically fit anymore.

The day after you're back to work, and it all seems it was just some kind of phantastic dream, and the rest of the world appears to be like in a haze.

- W.K.

Miniatures #7

(Rembrandt, Bathsheba)

An acquaintance of mine had once worked as a museum attendant at the Louvre in Paris, and he told me that very often American visitors would ask him: "It is an interesting collection, but why are there so many nudes?"

W.K.

Miniatures #5

A colleague of mine came back from a trip visiting an aunt of his in New York City. It was his very first time there, and since it's my favourite city I really wanted to know how we liked it.

"I was not impressed", he said. "It's just a very big and loud city."

Disappointed I replied: "Well, isn't it THE big and loud city?"

W.K.

Miniatures #1

At the very beginning of a classical concert you can watch the members of the orchestra step onto the stage and start tuning their instruments just before the conductor arrives. You'll hear a cacaphony of sounds that appears to be some kind of invisible composition, it has an aura of its own.

As a child attending such a concert for the very first time I thought it was already part of the concert. And even today I most often consider that part of the concert as more intriguing than the rest of the evening.

- W.K.