The soul of liquids

This is about liquids.
Hard to catch, to keep, to control.
I'm not sure whether I'll ever understand water.
The way it feels when I'm in it. The way it sounds
at the coastline of the sea. Slow motion under water.
The different tastes.
We make sure it's around wherever we go.
Pipes and bottles.
At some places we honor its soul.
Japanese gardens come into my mind.

Never wanted to listen to gasoline.
All we do is blow it up in our engines.
Bills for gallons.
But I would like to listen to oil.
Liquid history.
Ancient stories from the early days of the earth.
Would like to know how it feels, how it smells.
Never did.
Wells are fenced.

Let the Clouds in

Sun lured me.
"Come on, get me if you can.
You're a bit slow, so I'll wait a while
at the end of the highway and play with the clouds.
If you don't make it, you might see me another evening,
somewhere else. But this won't be the same.
We won't be the same.
So try your best and race the car."
Tried hard but she was way too fast.
So I gave up and stopped by.
Opened the windows to let the clouds in.
Together we waited for the stars to come,
talking about those sunny days behind
and those still ahead.

The hidden city

I read a lot about cities these days
and just found some fascinating sentences
published by Ian Chambers 16 years ago -
not that I knew of this guy before:

"The city exists in a series of doubles, it is a real place
and a site of imagination. Its elaborate network of streets,
housing, public buildings, transport systems,
parks and shops is paralleled by a complex of attitudes,
habits, customs, expectancies and hopes
that reside in us as urban subjects.
We discover that urban "reality" is not single but multiple,
that inside the city there is always another city."

Tell me all your secrets

Had my secrets. They popped up somehow. Locked them up.
Was a kid then. Some heavy to carry around all the time,
some I forgot. Shared one once. Wasn't a good idea.
Number one rule in the secrecy business. Keep it.
But we want to know. There are so many around.
Curiosity drives us mad.
That's why we read the news, watch TV,
listen to strangers, feeding their tiny phones on the train.
Speak louder. Please. Can't leave till I heard it all.
Talking to a small box in your hand
Talking in a big one in church
Talking in a cop room, tape recorder running
Add the cameras for a daily show
Tell me all your secrets.
Once you did, you're broke, cut off the line.
Silence.
Dumped that girl when she ran out of secrets, what could I do.
Was dumped by that girl when I ran out of secrets,
what could she do.
Need some fresh secrecy supply.
Should read the old books. Sail to unknown lands.
Walk the darkest streets in another city.
Or ask the government to help me out. They got so many.
But they want to trade. Want their forms to be filled out first.
When did you spend your last one and why?
No no no, not a word.
This one is left.
Thanks for telling me.