Six o’clock alarm:
Rose is missing!
A dear friend
taking us from architectural hills
to the heart of the royal city.
We bid her farewell
as it should be
when arriving on the eve.
Our minds free and light
absorbing the city’s vibe
Joyful chatter in front of cafés.
Ignorance is bliss, they say.
Where could she be?
The search begins.
The app suggests locations.
We draw lines on the city streets.
Three hunters on two wheels
on hitherto uncharted terrain.
Over there, that must be her!
An orange donkey.
The app suggests a perfect fit.
Our hopes are high.
And sink again.
All look the same.
So many names…
But where is Rose?
We are going in circles.
Check, cross-check.
Have we found, yet not seen her?
The app is blinking, right here.
No trace of Rose. Again.
A step back.
A deep breath.
The app on pause.
An end to more of the same.
We go back to the source.
where we last saw.
Approaching, we see three of them
bright orange in the morning light.
The spot looks just like it did last night.
It must be her! / Is it her?
Our minds oscillating
between hope and doubt.
We stop. And run
over to the orange troop.
Shouting out the names
we laid our eyes on
Alyssandra! Deva!
ROSE! Yes!!!
United finally.
On the run she’s been
For more than 20 hours.
Says the app.
And thought it was us riding her.
While we slept cluelessly
someplace else.
Suddenly it dawns on us:
We took her to the right place.
We locked her as it should be.
For us, the journey had stopped here.
But not for the app.
These days
in two worlds we live:
on earth and online.
The task to be completed in each.
Ah, this is what it means!
To be populating
parallel universes.
Absolute beginners we were
Learning the hard way.
An embodied lesson.
A quest completed
in expanding circles across the city
miles and time invested
to be a little wiser.
No: smarter!
BEATE SCHULZE, July 2025
