Tasso Kaup

Growing up in Germany during a period between post war, the Beatles era and modernism, I became disillusioned with the materialism of this age. Armed with an old typewriter I frequented coffee shops to leave my mark, crying out to this world about all that is wrong with it. Today however I feel it is more important to seek out beauty in the midst of our daily struggles. One lesson I learned over time, especially through travelling, is, that in the midst of great poverty and suffering, the brilliance of laughter shines more magnificent. And this reality is what I try to convey through my poetry, a roughness on the outside and yet joy and beauty at the heart of it.

MEANING

How often I asked myself that question
What is the meaning of life
A world that is run on fuel consumption
Regular from eight to five

In the noisy streets coming and going
No time to stop and reflect
People hastily on pathways crossing
Their eyes so casual deflect

An eternity in a moment's note
When somebody's eyes are met
And yet sharply shut cast back on the road
Brilliant light that did upset

So rarely displayed we run fast from it
Hiding from what we fear most
Intimate assault like a fire lit
That burns deep within our soul

A quest for the truth in all this feeling
That somehow we discover
That in all we do a deeper meaning
Is buried in the other

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ETERNITY OF DISCOVERY

Can we grasp it
The concept
Of
Eternity?

For ever and ever
From one state
To another
Never stopping
Always progressing
Into something
Deeper

God is un-searchable
The more we discover
Exponential more there is
And never in our dreams
Will we arrive
At the end of it

Eternity of discovery
The goal
Not in arriving
But in thriving
Delighting in the fact
That our search
Will never end

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THE LOVE THAT MAKES US ONE

There is no meaning in this life
Apart from us
The love that makes us one

Without love, we are just machinery
A hard cold reality
Of movements without sanctity

Without us, we are just alone
Individuals finding our way
Lost and far from home

Love cannot exist
Apart from us
For us is what gives us love

And we cannot exist
Apart from love
For love is what makes us one

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COFFEE DREAMS

Peace, perfect peace
Sitting quiet at Starbucks
Drinking coffee
Writing poetry

Time just moves
Dark and steaming
With the aroma
Of distant lands

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A BOY

The air is filled with the buzz of summer afternoon shopping
Gorgeous brunettes moving hips to the beat of their walkman
Heads turning, testosterone guys making teasing remarks
The girls laugh and move on, pretending not to care
A boy quietly draws figures in the sand

Loud music from a slow moving car, rhythmic hip-hop samba
Arms out of the car window, sun glasses pour grins and shouts
A group of laughing girls chatting at the square giving the finger
Mothers dragging their little ones, hurrying from shop to shop
The boy just passes a look, withdrawing his open hand

Young men drinking beer with hot dogs and pizza at the corner
An old man, wide brimmed hat, drinking sprite from a plastic cup
Eyes glued to a TV blaring commentator sounds from a football match,
Cheering or booing and the exchange of words at each goal shot
The boy playing with an old discarded tin of coke

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JUST

There is no shelter, just street and bridges
There is no refuge, just death-trap ditches
There is no hiding, just the street-light night
There is no running, just the daily fight
There is no hoping, just to end it quick
There is no future, just a grave to dig

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A CHILD'S LAMENT

It is so unfair
Nothing ever deserved this treatment
Shut out of grace, only the street
Cold and barren
And people passing by
In nice suits and fashion dresses
Who are so busy
To pursue their career
Their eyes just casting a pitiful smile
and the occasional tear

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