Ich Lieber Berlin
And there i was standing in the doorway of a packed train in the middle of Berlin at nearly midnight on a Saturday night, German techno blasting from behind me and bodies pressing close; the sounds of shouts in different languages and the smell of too much cigarette smoke and too many bodies in a small space. We laugh as our arms strain against the closing door, fighting against a machine with a shaved headed German shouting for a man I've only known a few days to jump back on and rejoin the party, A shout like a roar rips through the carriage as he makes it aboard; he turns to me and grins, beer raised high in acknowledgement to the shouts.
Strangers laugh loudly in the closed smoky space, our bodies rocking to the music and the train and we beat our fists against the roof like cavemen, shouting for no other reason then we can.
We catch eyes with almost strangers, we grin and shake our heads in bewilderment as we drink cheap warm beer and laugh like hyenas when our new friend dances the twostep to German techno and i wonder how this is real, how my life has become this in a matter of days, this adventure in a strange city and i wonder if i can ever go back to how things used to be.
Time seems to run differently here, the hours seem to slip by like liquid and when we look up the sky is darkening as the neons and streetlights flicker on bright orange and yellows, the smells from the restaurants mix together and make us heady with hunger.and the heat of the day makes us forget how late it is, we end up with beer in hand and laughs flying out into the night around us as we shout hello to strangers around us, broken Gernan between us in a medley of accents as thick as treacle.
I've spent a week here already and it feels like a day, a long endless stretch of laughter and misadventure, i stumble over the same uneven concrete like groundhog day and i half convince myself this is never ending, that this is how life is meant to be, stories and laughter and hearing my own accent flicker and fade into a garbled mix i barely recognize. people shoot rapid fire questions about home and i speak like i know what I'm talking about; fingers sticky with sweat and the day as i cling to my drink or the poles as the tram rocks beneath me.
And then i find myself here, the strange cafe we've taken to calling our own, the glow from laptops illuminating faces in the dwindling daylight a hundred strangers sitting in window seats and alcoves, the buzz of conversation and and the clinking of classes the soundtrack along with the hum of music fills the room and we sip our drinks like the adults we never feel we are.
Welcome to Berlin, may you never have to leave,
Strangers laugh loudly in the closed smoky space, our bodies rocking to the music and the train and we beat our fists against the roof like cavemen, shouting for no other reason then we can.
We catch eyes with almost strangers, we grin and shake our heads in bewilderment as we drink cheap warm beer and laugh like hyenas when our new friend dances the twostep to German techno and i wonder how this is real, how my life has become this in a matter of days, this adventure in a strange city and i wonder if i can ever go back to how things used to be.
Time seems to run differently here, the hours seem to slip by like liquid and when we look up the sky is darkening as the neons and streetlights flicker on bright orange and yellows, the smells from the restaurants mix together and make us heady with hunger.and the heat of the day makes us forget how late it is, we end up with beer in hand and laughs flying out into the night around us as we shout hello to strangers around us, broken Gernan between us in a medley of accents as thick as treacle.
I've spent a week here already and it feels like a day, a long endless stretch of laughter and misadventure, i stumble over the same uneven concrete like groundhog day and i half convince myself this is never ending, that this is how life is meant to be, stories and laughter and hearing my own accent flicker and fade into a garbled mix i barely recognize. people shoot rapid fire questions about home and i speak like i know what I'm talking about; fingers sticky with sweat and the day as i cling to my drink or the poles as the tram rocks beneath me.
And then i find myself here, the strange cafe we've taken to calling our own, the glow from laptops illuminating faces in the dwindling daylight a hundred strangers sitting in window seats and alcoves, the buzz of conversation and and the clinking of classes the soundtrack along with the hum of music fills the room and we sip our drinks like the adults we never feel we are.
Welcome to Berlin, may you never have to leave,