Croatian Coffee – A love story

Bok! Daj me jedna bijela kava, molim.

That is how it all began. The wish for a normal coffee with milk. What I got was the invite to stay several hours, sip your coffee every now and then and just see “being”.
Drinking coffee in Zagreb has become a wonderful tradition of an almost daily routine, involving working on my thesis (wi-fi is widely spread), reading a book and continuously improving my language skills. But all this I could do back home in Germany too. Here, it is a different feeling….coffee. It means so much more.

My day starts with making a strong coffee in one of the Balkans (some might claim Turkish) cezve. Boiling water, adding some sugar, adding the coffee, letting it boil just another second. Taking it off the stove, letting it rest for a moment – truly the most authentic coffee I have every tasted. And yet I am far from mastering this technique.
Hence my frequent visits to decent cafés like Funk Club or Melin.

Some of the “best” poems I wrote in the past few weeks were created under the influence of strong coffee and comfy chairs, mixed with an unstoppable amount of inspirations walking the streets and, of course, cigarettes.

“Soldier Side” 2011

Dead man walking to the bottom of his heart
Wondering when you come home, am I gonna be saved
Maybe I’m a sinner for your inner unique peace
Maybe I’m a downer, maybe I deserve to die

I am crying as my love left
My soul is wearing black
You’ll go so far to find yourself
I hope you’re coming back

We were crying when our ways split
All good things must go
You’ll go so far to find your truth
I know you’re coming home

Young man standing on the bottom of his life
Wondering when you come back, am I gonna be saved
Praying to your feelings, I’m so crushed I only cry
Maybe you’re a savior, maybe I don’t have to die

I am crying as my heart breaks
Life is turning black
You’ll go so far to find yourself
I hope you’re coming back

We were crying when our ways split
All good things must go
You’ll go so far to find your truth
I know you’re coming home

Welcome to the soldier side
Where there is no one here but me
My heart grows up to die
There is no one here but me

Welcome to my lonely side
There is no one here but me
No-one on my lonely side
There is no one here but me

“Lost in Hollywood” 2011

I’ll wait here,
like crazy,
My lasting grief is filled with hope,
You should have never gone to Hollywood.

I’ll find you,
and safe you,
Know you’re the best I’ve ever seen,
You should have never trusted Hollywood.

I’ll write you,
And find you,
You are the greatest girl out here,
You should have never gone to Hollywood.

I’ll take you,
And make you,
They’ll look at us in adoring ways,
You should never trusted Hollywood.

I once was standing tall,
Now feeling 2 feet small,
I’m just always smoking fags on the street to the end,
I have no front page,
I have lost my age,
My dear love, take good care and I’ll be waiting here for us to return

Face the horizon, smoking fags on the road to no man’s land

My dear love, take good care and I’ll be waiting here for us to return

Lonely people come to cry,
Look at me I’m just a fall guy,
Lonely hearts that really die.

(The lines in the letter said, “We’ll have gone insane”)
Look at me I pray to stay

Broken heart has come to die.

All I do is smoking fags in the cold cold dark,
All I do is smoking fags out there on the bench in the old park.
All I do is smoking fags out there on the redemption path.

You should have never trusted Hollywood.
You should have never gone to Hollywood.

My dear love, take good care and I’ll be waiting here for us to return

You should have never trusted Hollywood.

“Fix you” 2011

I will try my best and hope to succeed
I have lost what I want, I have lost what I need
I feel so tired but I can’t sleep
Stuck in desperation

And the tears come streaming down my face
I have lost something I won’t replace
When I don’t see you, I go to waste
What can be worse?

I hope love will guide you home
And enlighten our souls
And I will wait and love you

There is no high, I am down below
I am too in love, won’t let it go
I’ll have to wait, or I’ll never know
Just know you’re worth it all

I hope love will guide you home
And enlighten our souls
And I will wait and love you

Tears stream down on my face
I have lost something I won’t replace
Tears stream down on my face
And I…

Tears stream down on my face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down on my face
And I…

I hope love will guide you home
And enlighten our souls
And I will wait and love you

“Tentative” 2011

Suffocation is taking me alone for a ride
Thoughts of fear awaken me, with no light
The tears are falling on my chin day and night
While I am sitting, waiting for you so bright, so tell me

Where you going
When will you back
Do you hear me
I’m almost dead

I am going down in a spiral to the ground

I am hoping, you, you gonna save me soon
Nightmare are killing my condition, night for night
Keeping my head over water, remains a fight
I can’t stop wishing, praying for a sunlight
While I am sitting, waiting for you so bright, so tell me

Where you going
When will you back
Do you hear me
I’m almost dead

I am going down in a spiral to the ground
You, yeah only you can save me now
Not even God, he ain’t safes me
Who’s gonna save me?

Do expect me to be there when you need me!

Do expect me to be there when you need me!

Do expect me to be there when you need me!

Do expect me to be there when you need me!

Yearning is taking me again for a ride
Believe me now, I’d look for you anywhere, worldwide
Salty tears are falling in my cup every night
While I am hoping, with all my strength, strength, strength, strength, strength, strong…

Going down, in a spiral to the ground
No-one, no-one’s gonna save me now (not even God)
No one saved me, no one saved me
No one saved me, but I hope you will

Do expect me to be there when you need me!

“Jersey Girl” 2011

I got no time for the football boys
Down on the pitch making all that noise
Or anyone else on the avenue
`Cause all night I wanna be with you
Soon I’m gonna take that ride
Across the border to the other side
Take my sweetheart out to the river side
And I’ll show you all the stars

`Cause down the docks everything’s all right
You and I on a wonderful night
You know all my dreams come true
When I’m sitting down by the water with you

Sha la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la
Sha la la la I’m in love with that only girl

You know you thrill me with all your charms
When I’m covered in your loving arms
Little girl, you give me everything
I know that some day that we’ll dance the swing
So don’t bother me life, I ain’t got no time
I’ll be on my way to see that girl of mine
`Cause nothing matters in this whole wide world
When I’m in love with that only girl

Sha la la la…

When I last saw you, you looked so tired
I hope that time you had won’t leave you so undesired
When you come back I’m gonna take you out
Make you happy, there I have no doubt
Go grab your suitcase and take that camera
We’re gonna do a trip that will stick in our minds forever
I know a place where you’ll always smile
And nothing in the world will get you down
`Cause by the stage everything’s all right
You and I on a this beautiful night
Nothing matters in this whole wide world
Coz I’m in love with that only girl

“O Children” 2011

“O Children”

Show me your smile, before you’re gone
My love, my only one
The tears are coming, one by one
I don’t even want to let them dry

No-one comes knocking now on my door
The pleasure is gone, I am on the floor
The bricks are falling fast and hard
on my broken little heart

O children

Forgive me now for what I’ve done
It started out as so much fun
Here, take these before you run away
The keys to my heart

O children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
Children
Rejoice, rejoice

Here I am, I’m so alone
Left aside, for me to drown
My life was bright, now it’ll dim
And we were only just beginning

O children

I want to help you with all your fears
I wish it’d simple and crystal clear
But it’s not too distant, it’s somewhere here
Hidden for us to find

O children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
Children
Rejoice, rejoice

The life has done its job on us
Left alone, so we both are crushed
But soon, I know, you’ll be good and new
And I’ll forever be here, waiting for you

O children

I am sitting here, white as a ghost
I found no answer that we lost
I am only weeping now, weeping because
There ain’t nothing I can do to protect you

O children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
Children
Rejoice, rejoice

Hey little train! You and I are jumping on
The path that goes to the Freedom
We’ll be happy, Schnubs, we’ll be having fun
And the train ain’t even left the station

Hey, little train! Wait for me!
I once was blind but now I see
Please, please leave a seat for me!
Hope that won’t be too hard imagination?

Hey little train! Wait for me!
I was held in chains but now I’m free
I’m hanging in here, don’t you see
In my process of elimination

Hey little train! You and I are jumping on
The path that goes to the Freedom
We’ll be happy, Schnubs, we’ll be having fun
Even beyond our wildest expectations

Hey little train! You and I are jumping on
The path that goes to the Freedom
We’ll be happy, Schnubs, we’ll be having fun
And the train ain’t even left the station