Un abrazo zurück (A hug back) 

I once found an old photograph that was hiding in my heart 

even today I still look at the two hugging people smiling back at me 

their happiness is drawing me deeper and deeper into the moment of this picture 

I like to imagine what the two people told each right before the picture was taken 

maybe they were rushing to get into the picture frame on time 

maybe they were telling each other I love you 

maybe they were talking about the future

or maybe they weren’t talking at all 

they didn’t have to 

their smiles were big enough that one would have found them on google map 

their eyes sparkled bright enough that the sky did not need any stars to shine at night 

their hands touched as if they were holding the universe together 

A photograph never changes but the memory of it does

Time plays its tricks on us 

manipulates the present only to make us remember the past less 

and maybe it is better this way 

maybe it hurts less to be reminded of the way things used to be 

as we all tuck in our photographs at night 

waiting for the next day to start 

only to one day look back at them and let the memories live again for a few minutes 

maybe some things are meant to last forever 

like the two people hugging in the photograph 

it was not just a hug 

but instead the hug made space for something more 

reminding me of the way the sun sets after it gets dark outside

only to find its way up again in the morning 

the way certainty finds its way between their uncertainty 

the way dreams were not just dreams 

but began to dance in their shadows 

It was a hug that reminded me of childhood memories 

it reminded me of the way hope has found its way back to life and crawled under the pillow 

only to someday be found by you 

the way hands can hold other hands 

and place trust in the open spaces between the fingers 

because aren’t we all hoping to be understood by someone? 

maybe it is just a picture I am looking at 

but to me it is so much more 

it reminds me of the way I have found myself in another person 

the way hope has given me strength as my birthday present 

reminding me that one day everything will be okay 

And as I am staring into the waves 

holding my photograph in my hands 

I wish that someday I could find that person in the picture again 

and as we hold hands and happily smile at each other 

I give him un abrazo zurück 

and I know I no longer have to look back at the photograph 

because what I longed for is already standing right next to me. 

Love sometimes goes its own mysterious ways. Sometimes those ways make sense to us, and sometimes they don't. To me one of the most beautiful things is when two people refuse to give up on each other. I wrote this poem a year ago, reading it now is making me realize how much has changed in just one year. It has made me a much stronger and happier person, and has brought me so many new amazing people in my life that I would never want to miss. I hope you guys like this poem, thanks for reading! 

Punctuation 

In school they always told me that I understood nothing about punctuation, 

and if I had ever even understood what that means

I would have been pretty offended. 

But I never understood why to place a question mark behind every “do you love me?“ 

if I already knew the answer. 

I never understood why love was put into a question,  

when love was never a question 

nor The Answer

I was never sure if maybe I should place an exclamation mark behind every “I love you!“

so even space would not dare to question that you were mine. 

Or  if there should be a period

to remind you that our love is save 

that there is nothing that could come between the empty gaps between us.  

To engrave that I am the beginning of the sentence and you are the end. 

“I love You“ 

I was never sure if maybe I should just leave a comma 

to leave room for the uncertainty

that always found space to crawl beside my safety

that I wished to feel for love. 

No. 

today my love I leave no exclamation marks 

no period

no comma 

no punctuation 

today 

I only leave myself 

hoping that wherever you are

you will look up 

and recognize “I love you“

in every star in the sky 

and when it falls down 

“I love you“

so beautifully 

“I love you“

so gracefully  

“I love you“

that you feel like it is The End 

“I love you“

then remember 

that love never had a punctuation 

never had an exclamation mark 

nor a period 

nor a comma 

that I will never be your beginning 

nor your end 

that I will never be able to fill certainty 

between the space of our fingers 

for I have always just been the voice 

behind every star 

whispering 

“I love you“ 

over and over again 

hoping that one day your echo will come back

for there has never been a punctuation mark for silence 

I have always loved the ocean. It is such a peaceful place where one can let his own thoughts wander. 

The Ocean 

I felt the sand crawling between my toes 

finding space in what I thought was hopelessly left unfinished 

and every step I took 

left footprints on the ground 

just long enough

as if it wanted to say “Hey I was here too“ 

before it was washed away by the wave of the ocean 

as if it never existed 

When I was little I had always loved the ocean 

I loved the ocean as I loved people 

and sometimes I wondered 

if we don‘t all have an ocean inside of us 

there is a wave comforting us when we cannot find sleep at night 

when the boy broke the heart 

just long enough 

for you to hold your breath under the water

until you find yourself moving up again 

breathing 

with the taste of salt in your mouth 

that not only came from the water of the ocean 

but from the pearls 

that can shine so bright in your face

if only you would let them 

The end of an ocean 

cannot be seen by the eyes  

and sometimes the fear of the unknown finds its space 

between every wave 

when it whirls you around 

leaving you with an uncertainty over where up is  

and where down 

but only if you hold on long enough will you realize that 

there will never be an up without a down 

and no down will exist without its up 

as every storm is followed by a peaceful silence 

Today I took a walk on the beach 

I felt the sand crawling between my toes 

and just in time I found a shell on the ground 

that appeared broken on one side 

but whose hole made a beautiful pattern 

and as I put the shell to my ear 

the ocean told the story 

of how divers 

diving for treasures have always returned empty to the shore 

but souls getting lost in its depth 

listening endlessly to its melody 

returned with hands full of treasures 

leaving marks that will no longer be erased 

as they found themselves 

in the oceans hidden depths

after all, aren‘t we all diving after our own beautiful broken treasures?