I still have a Suitcase in Berlin
Literal prose English translation by Hyde Flippo

1
It’s wonderful in Paris on the Rue Madeleine
It’s nice to walk through the city in Rome in May
Or a quiet summer night with wine in Vienna.
But I’m still attached, even if you laugh, to Berlin today:

Refrain:
I still have a suitcase in Berlin
That’s why I have to go there sometime soon.
The joys of days gone by
Are all still in my little suitcase.

I still have a suitcase in Berlin
It stays there, too, and that makes sense.
In this way it’s worth a trip,
Because whenever I’m homesick, then I go back.

2
Lunapark and the wave pool, a little bear at the Zoo,
Swimming at Wannsee (lake) with the water wheel, bright and happy days.
Werder, when the trees are in bloom, Sanssouci park.
Man, Berlin was really nice. I’ll never forget it:

Refrain: I have…

—————————————-

Tear down this Wall
Ronald Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate June 12, 1987

Thank you very much.

Chancellor Kohl, Governing Mayor Diepgen, ladies and gentlemen: Twenty-four years ago, President John F. Kennedy visited Berlin, speaking to the people of this city and the world at the City Hall. Well, since then two other presidents have come, each in his turn, to Berlin. And today I, myself, make my second visit to your city.

We come to Berlin, we American presidents, because it’s our duty to speak, in this place, of freedom. But I must confess, we’re drawn here by other things as well: by the feeling of history in this city, more than 500 years older than our own nation; by the beauty of the Grunewald and the Tiergarten; most of all, by your courage and determination. Perhaps the composer Paul Lincke understood something about American presidents. You see, like so many presidents before me, I come here today because wherever I go, whatever I do: Ich hab noch einen Koffer in Berlin. [I still have a suitcase in Berlin.]

Read more at Reagan Foundation

he tearfully lost his heart in Ravenna,

he travelled to Spain,

searched there – but in vain,

he better had used an antenna…

secret agent bizarre bomb corpse crime curiosity devil dismemberment divorce dust escape private eye forbidden getaway history holocaust island serial killer koffer lost morbidity mouse mummy murder mystery private eye runaway rust crime scene serial killer secret service smuggle lost soul spinster suitcase travel treasure trunk vacation victim

created at TagCrowd.com

Read more at THE NEW YORKER * Life & Letters * Published December 25, 2006

‘A dismembered corpse inside’, her first thought. It made her smirk, this obsession with murder was becoming a little bit peculiar. ‘You will end as an old spinster, buried under tons of newspapers and trash, alongside with a crowd of mummified cats…’, she made one of her morbid jokes to herself.
As she knew from her favorite TV series, she tried to catch a smell – nothing, just old dust. ‘No corpse’, she concluded, still smiling. ‘Well, maybe a mummified one…’ She laughed now and went away, forgetting all about that ding.

In the evening, after a tense working day, she remembered “the corpse in the trunk” again, when she told her lover about it and her first thought. He had noticed “the thing” too. Now he furrowed his brow in slight concern about her bizarre connotations. Serial killers! If he did not knew better, one could think, this was her only occupation. He could not comprehend, his hair stood on end just for the thought. Not from fear but from reluctance to deal with the abysmal depths of human soul.
Her lover. She called him her lover after 21 years still. And she really felt like that. Their obsession being something precious, exciting, forbidden. Why? None of them could explain, but they relished it deeply and to the full. “The koffer” felt something alike, at least for Lisa.

The relict from the past did not vanish as expected. It remained there rooted to the spot. While it was strange already that it appeared at all, it seemed odd enough, that it rested there since their first encounter. From the day, the restoration of this huge industrial complex from the end of the last century had been finished, the property management did not tolerate the slightest dog´s breakfast in the corridors, not to mention the storage of abandoned, battered objects. The building was downright spotlessly aseptic since the restoration – from roof to basement. Not even Lisa´s cat had fun anymore strolling the aisles. No mouse would pitch her tent here voluntarily anymore, not to mention cockroaches, her cat´s favorite toy. On the other hand, if people wanted to get rid of discarded objects, they just left it right at the spot in front of the elevator, where Lisa found the trunk. You could be sure, that everything disappeared within hours – one of the employées of more than 70 companies located here would find your leftovers attractive enough to pick it up.

One could get the impression, that nobody dared to touch the shabby suitcase. Maybe there was a bomb hidden in it? ‘Nonsense’, Lisa thought to herself. The intact cover of dust proofed that the body of the trunk had been untouched for years – if not for centuries. ‘You don´t need a private eye for this conclusion…’

Lisa was inquisitive. Pathologically curious, how Lisa called it. So it was unavoidable, that the trunk stimulated her imagination.

Four weeks passed by. One sunday morning – the building is deserted on weekends – when the relict still spread it´s aura of mystery, Lisa´s patience ended suddenly. She snatched the trunk and dragged it to her cave. The koffer tried to resist by emitting small fusty-dusty clouds of defiance. ‘It´s done – finally…’, Lisa thought satisfied, when she dropped the trunk in her anteroom. She still did not dare to open it – somehow the ding seemed a little bit fishy to her…

When Leo told her yesterday, that they had to leave within 24 hours, she hoped he was exaggerating. Inside she knew, that exaggerating was not one of his attitudes. Nor did he use to show unreasonable fear. Despite she could not believe the rumours, she felt, that Leo must have a point. It tore her heart apart to leave the city, she learned to love. No time now for sentiments! Leo had sold everything of value in a haste – and for a dumping price. They needed money to get documents, to pay helpers, to get the permission to enter Switzerland and to get a visa to leave France for America. At least that´s what they had been told by friends, who already had left Vienna after last November, after that terrible “Crystal Night”.

Miriam, a mild tempered lady in her mid-thirties, would not believe, that “they” were going to kill Jews. People could not change to monsters over night… But she was used to obeye her husband, whom she deeply loved and adored. ‘You will know, what´s best for us, you made the right decision, when we left Poland for Vienna’, she thought to herself, quietly moving around the room choosing carefully, what to put in the suitcase. She heard the door. Leo was back from University. He recently lost his job…

//To be continued – check back in a few days…//

‘A dismembered corpse inside’, her first thought. It made her smirk, this obsession with murder was becoming a little bit peculiar. ‘You will end as an old spinster, buried under tons of newspapers and trash, alongside with a crowd of mummified cats…’, she made one of her morbid jokes to herself.
As she knew from her favorite TV series, she tried to catch a smell – nothing, just old dust. ‘No corpse’, she concluded, still smiling. ‘Well, maybe a mummified one…’ She laughed now and went away, forgetting all about that ding.

In the evening, after a tense working day, she remembered “the corpse in the trunk” again, when she told her lover about it and her first thought. He had noticed “the thing” too. Now he furrowed his brow in slight concern about her bizarre connotations. Serial killers! If he did not knew better, one could think, this was her only occupation. He could not comprehend, his hair stood on end just for the thought. Not from fear but from reluctance to deal with the abysmal depths of human soul.
Her lover. She called him her lover after 21 years still. And she really felt like that. Their obsession being something precious, exciting, forbidden. Why? None of them could explain, but they relished it deeply and to the full. “The koffer” felt something alike, at least for Lisa.

The relict from the past did not vanish as expected. It remained there rooted to the spot. While it was strange already that it appeared at all, it seemed odd enough, that it rested there since their first encounter. From the day, the restoration of this huge industrial complex from the end of the last century had been finished, the property management did not tolerate the slightest dog´s breakfast in the corridors, not to mention the storage of abandoned, battered objects. The building was downright spotlessly aseptic since the restoration – from roof to basement. Not even Lisa´s cat had fun anymore strolling the aisles. No mouse would pitch her tent here voluntarily anymore, not to mention cockroaches, her cat´s favorite toy. On the other hand, if people wanted to get rid of discarded objects, they just left it right at the spot in front of the elevator, where Lisa found the trunk. You could be sure, that everything disappeared within hours – one of the employées of more than 70 companies located here would find your leftovers attractive enough to pick it up.

One could get the impression, that nobody dared to touch the shabby suitcase. Maybe there was a bomb hidden in it? ‘Nonsense’, Lisa thought to herself. The intact cover of dust proofed that the body of the trunk had been untouched for years – if not for centuries. ‘You don´t need a private eye for this conclusion…’

Lisa was inquisitive. Pathologically curious, how Lisa called it. So it was unavoidable, that the trunk stimulated her imagination.

Four weeks passed by. One sunday morning – the building is deserted on weekends – when the relict still spread it´s aura of mystery, Lisa´s patience ended suddenly. She snatched the trunk and dragged it to her cave. The koffer tried to resist by emitting small fusty-dusty clouds of defiance. ‘It´s done – finally…’, Lisa thought satisfied, when she dropped the trunk in her anteroom. She still did not dare to open it – somehow the ding seemed a little bit fishy to her…