Mr. Merz — this is the "Stadbild" you fear, and the one we call home.

More about Mr. Merz — this is the "Stadbild" you fear, and the one we call home.

People walk through the streets —
with skin, with tongues, with dreams from a hundred skies.
A boy kisses a boy,
a woman wears her headscarf like a crown,
a child laughs, not knowing it will be taught to hate.
The city breathes — loud, raw, alive.
Is that what you fear, Mr. Merz?

Here someone sells baklava beside bratwurst,
there a musician from Ghana plays Über den Wolken.
Old men sip tea, talking politics,
while girls dance with rainbow flags.
No one asks where you’re from — only if you’re kind.
Is that what you fear, Mr. Merz?

Because what you call foreign
is only what you’ve forgotten how to feel.
Diversity isn’t a storm — it’s the wind that carries us all.
And if you tremble before the colors of humanity,
it’s not them that scare you —
it’s your own darkness.
Is that what you fear, Mr. Merz?

-© Ferit Sahin