I had a story;
about Longing.
For a place, a culture, a country, a person.
And even though it cut me off at the knees,
heart on my sleeve,
I quested my way across them all.
.
And just like the little lost sheep
in my childhood-story-books I’d ask:
Are YOU my mother?
Are YOU my father?
My partner?
My place?
My people?
My friend?
My kin?
My crew?
.
But after half a lifetime
of this nonsense,
and upon discovering
I had arrived exactly
back at the starting-point of it all –
I gave up.
And went
for an early morning walk.
And that’s when –
the great un-yearning began.
.
Slowly,
Longing gave way to
belonging
to a b s o l u t e l y
no one
no thing
no country
no story
no state
no myth
no man.
.
I belong:
to the world.
I belong to the stars
before dawn
I am native to
honey-bee
wild-flower,
the cosmos
sun and sea.
.
I belong to everything.
Everywhere.
And none of it –
nothing at all –
belongs to me.
.
Liat Lev
May 2024
