“Every person has a longing to be significant; to make a contribution; to be part of something noble and purposeful.”— John C. Maxwell
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| SOURCE |
“Sometimes when I look at you, I feel I am gazing at
a distant star. It’s dazzling, but the light is from tens of thousands of years
ago. May be the star doesn’t even exist anymore. Yet sometimes that light seems
more real to me than anything.”— Haruki Murakami,
South of
the Border, West of the Sun
Midweek
Motif ~ Longing
Longing is an all-embracing emotion. Intentionally
or unwittingly we incorporate ‘longing’ in whatever we do. It’s our driving
force.
When I look around I find young people desperately
longing for freedom, stability; some ambitious ones running after wealth and
fame; older ones with an eye for the happy bygone days now yearn for
fulfillment; some long for joy, wellbeing and peace; in the face of adversity
many simply long to escape; everyone wants to belong somewhere.
Longing to write in an almost impossible condition
had prison- literature flourish in many countries. The famous Turkish poet,
playwright, novelist, screenwriter, director and memoirist Nâzım Hikmet Ran was repeatedly arrested for his
political beliefs and spent much of his adult life in prison or in exile. This
much for those who long for creativity, words.
I cannot resist sharing one of Ran’s poem I
Come and Stand at Every Door.
[It’s a plea for
peace from a seven-year-old girl, ten years after she has perished in the
atomic bomb attack at Hiroshima, Wikipedia] :
I come and stand at every door
But no one hears my silent tread
I knock and yet remain unseen
For I am dead, for I am dead.
I'm only seven although I died
In Hiroshima long ago
I'm seven now as I was then
When children die they do not grow.
My hair was scorched by swirling flame
My eyes grew dim, my eyes grew blind
Death came and turned my bones to dust
And that was scattered by the wind.
I need no fruit, I need no rice I
need no sweet, nor even bread
I ask for nothing for myself
For I am dead, for I am dead.
All that I ask is that for peace
You fight today, you fight today
So that the children of this world
May live and grow and laugh and play.
What do you long for?
Please share your new poem
using Mr. Linky below and visit others in the spirit of the community—
(Next week Poets United Midweek Motif is Changes hosted by Susan & Sumana)
