There was a time before I knew you
when I sat empty but full of misery
cursing at the whole gang
in a bar
waiting for the girl of my dreams
one day would pass by.
And I let my tears flow
when I was hungover again.
And that my beloved friends
with whom I served the muses
and didn't earn a single red cent
even if I had said no
walked over in the evening
to have a chat
and then got drunk in the morning
were laid out on the sidewalk.
There was a time when I had the most to say at parties
where I often discussed politics with enlightened minds.
In which we were never mistaken, people who knew better were all fascists who lacked sense. When I stared at my navel and I became a communist declared
and with all the other beards
was waiting for the bomb.
When it just wouldn't fall
we soon heard shouting
and we all lay down together
world-peaceful on the mat.
At that time I could look at women
with an expert's eye
and I never wanted to get married,
because that did not suit me.
I only wanted to live together
with a black-dressed beauty
to show the middle class
how open-minded I was.
But it was unavoidable
that I was lonely at times
so that I desperately made love
with a girl from ballet.
Every beauty quickly withered
in the morning when I woke up
with the butts on the plates
and the crumbs in the bed.
One day I met you,
sweet and small and so shy,
dripping in the spring rain
in the big strange city.
You knew nothing about provoking
and you wanted to convert me
and I let myself be taught everything
if only I had your love.
Now that's it I want to read the newspaper and be a citizen. I don't have to fear hunger anymore, but I still sometimes think with regret about the time before I knew you,
to the cheerful misery,
to the artistic gang
of the good old days

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