you know
life
is full of
strange
little episodes

little incidents
you recall
after an hour
or a day
and you think to yourself

oh no
this can't be true

lately
in a London hotel
on the way
to my table for breakfast
I overheard
a married couple

an elderly
English woman
was talking to
her husband
she said

dear
I think this morning
you forgot
to flush
the toilet

to which he just
replied

oh, holy
shit!

try again

we’re still
living together but
next year
he’s gonna move in with me

that’s what she said to me

instinctively I must have
bent
my head sideways as if
there was a drop of water
in my ear

it makes me look
like a thinker
I had once been told but
thinking
wasn't the reason why
I did this

it happened automatically and
I always
imagined I
would let the words fall out
of my ear like
little
drops

then when I moved my head back
into its normal position
quickly enough
the meaning of the words
would still be there and
suddenly
make sense

I see you now
also bend your heads
sideways

it never
works



tunnel of adventure

the memory isn't very clear but
I do remember that
when I was a child
I was excited to ride
on a subway train
for the very first time
in my life

someone must have been
with me, I assume but
I have no idea who
this might have been
my parents or grandparents
or uncles or aunts

all I remember is the first time
we drove into the tunnel while
I imagined
being on a roller-coaster ride

not that I had been
on one before
to compare

today the central station is
a junction of
several subway lines

I don't take
the subway often but when
last time
I waited down there
in the underground station
a delay for one of the lines
was announced

it fortunately wasn't the line
I was waiting for but the line
on the opposite track

a train had broken down
in the tunnel so another train
came to tow it off

when after a few minutes
the defective train was towed
into the station
I saw that
it was labeled all over
with an advertisement

it promoted a new
entertainment park,
the slogan on the train read

»the special
adventure«

when the doors opened
people poured out like after
a roller-coaster ride



Roberts de Niro (is waiting)

want to play another
round,
he asked

she put aside her
cola bottle and
cellphone

yeah, sure! But don't make it
as difficult as
the ones before

he was a law student
she was a senior
brother and sister
it seemed to me

no politicians or sportsmen
or stuff
she added

they were traveling on the
train from Goettingen to
Berlin with me

after what I had been forced to
listen to before
I should have added

neither any
historical figures

the two were totally likable
witty and
good company
in general unless it came to
general knowledge

the quiz round before
she had just mistaken
Berlin's mayor for
a TV presenter

from the row behind them
I would have loved to help
more than once I had felt
tempted to whisper

he never needed help
he knew his sister

is it Leo di Caprio,
she guessed at random

no
he said

are we looking for
someone male anyway
she asked

no
he said

it's no help
knowing Robert de Niro then
she declared
but is she
a singer?

no
he said

it's not
Shakira then
she noted

no
he said

is she an actress
she asked

yes
he said

is she still alive?

I think so

you're sure?
she questioned

she's old now
he replied

TV or movies?
she inquired

movies
he said

do I know her?
she asked

not sure but I think
you do

do I know
her movies?

probably not

silent movies
she guessed making me
wonder
how old that would make
the actress today

no
he said
but let me give you
a hint

(my ears were pricked up
I wanted to
find out first)

she plays in
political movies

ouch
I thought
that guy's smarter than I
expected
Even I may not
know her

she once played
an environmental
activist
he continued to help

I don't
believe it
flashed through my brain while
I sank back in my seat
Good Lord
don't let this be true!

her movies are
very demanding
I don't think
you would like them
he revealed

okay
I give up
she finally announced

it's
Julia Roberts
he solved the puzzle

ah, never heard
she replied
I told you not to make it
so difficult!

my ears were
almost deaf but still
they picked up how
she remarked

so I was already
close
when I said
Robert de Niro