The way we deal with loss shapes our capacity to be present to life more than anything else. The way we protect ourselves from loss may be the way in which we distance ourselves from life. -Rachel Naomi Remen The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be […]
On coloring books and blank slates
I see myselfA little bit likeA coloring bookFull of fresh pages I want to approach New people New situationsWith a blank slateWithout the baggageOf a book full of already colored pagesSo maybe we canColor in one of my pagesTogether In a wayThat is beautiful To both of us But there are timesWhen it is so hardTo be a blank slateTo be“All […]
Reverse culture shock
One of many thingsI struggle to understand About the culture ofMiddle and upper classPredominantly whiteAmericansIs the use of the home.It seems to beAbove allA place of privacy Intimacy(Isolation)Where a select fewAre welcomed. I think of how In Afghanistan and When visiting immigrants in AmericaI was welcomed inside more homes In a few daysThan in seven monthsOf living in AmericaAmong ‘my’ […]
On letting go
SometimesWhen shopping for clothes,I find something I likeMaybe loveAnd I try it onAnd I see that it is beautifulMaybe even perfect But I cannot justifyThe expense.So I carry it around In the storeAnd for a short timeIt is mineUntil I gently place it backOn the rack –Hoping someone elseWill love it too
On the nature of ‘missing’
What is the remedy For missing those Whom you may never see Again? With whom you might speak Occasionally Yet love Deeply From distances Of thousands of miles And from across political boundaries And religious boundaries That silence the miles. And I am not entirely sure how much of the missing Is me missing them […]
Career trajectory
Lately I have beenBemusedSomewhat confusedAs personAfter personAsks(With clear implicit assumptions)If I will try to move ‘up’At work. Perhaps I lack ambitionPerhaps I am lazyOr perhaps I am satisfiedIn a place where I amNot supposedTo beSatisfied. ‘Career trajectory’Is a space where my disinterest inAnd even resistance to Upward mobilityTakes a visibleTangibleShape.
On social mobility
A desire for upward mobility Is assumed to be goodAnd necessary By so many.And no doubt, sometimesIt is.But I increasingly observeThat there is some connectionBetween this ambition And a lack of enjoymentOf life. For myselfI am more interested In an acceptance Of downward mobilityAnd an awarenessPerhaps even an experience Of covert Rather than overt Prestige.And […]
A great irony
There is some great ironyA cosmic paradox of sortsThat the very thing that can bring me so closeTo so many very different peopleIs also the thingThat takes meUnwillingly away from themThe finding occurs alongside The losing The joy alongsideThe painAnd yet I would have itNo other way.
When protest ceases to be productive
Protesting At times Serves to fuel The very fire It seeks to eliminate What if Instead of telling the other Yelling at the other Whispering gently to the other ‘Stop with your hatred’ We instead spent Our best efforts On developing A more complex view Of those people And views We would protest against Wondering […]
For S.B.
The shortness of a life Here one moment Taken away the next Stopping the world (as you know it) Causing numbness Disbelief Anger Pain Sorrow. Loss. But it can also grant A realization Of the preciousness Of being alive And a responsibility To make the most Of the time Regardless Of whether it is long […]
PrOsETRY Reflections 