"We Do Belong...."

Life is an act of finding belongings. The day we came to exist, the family introduced us to the established belongings. The day we die, we leave our garnered belongings behind. As we grow up, we walk through the crowd while being intimidated by other's belongings. With each transiting day, our hair turns slightly grey, our skin pale and our gestures meet ageing. We keep crawling on the footpaths and expanding the list of unfulfilled wishes. And here, Ahmad Faraz beautifully sums up the life of wandering people like us - 

किसी को घर से निकलते ही मिल गई मंज़िल

कोई हमारी तरह उम्र भर सफ़र में रहा

In most instances, we blame the city for ruining our slow life, despite the city being the only well that quenches our thirst.  Life takes a turn when our ears get used to the cacophony of the city. The city's nature is eerie. Since the day we take steps towards it, the demon incarcerates us to emancipate our lives.  As a ticking clock, we end up finding belongings. Some belongings stay and some depart.  

Sometimes, we knowingly walk away from those worthy belongings in search of more. We keep experimenting and observing like life is a laboratory. Some results are breakthroughs and the rest are foundations.   

There are times when we struggle to find belongings then we must become the belonging. Welcoming the floundering people with open arms to convince them that, "We do belong."

"We Do Belong"

In the rooms, we reside 

Or the people we call home 

To the lyrics where the soul sings

Or the tunes the body dances to

On the occasions, we wait

Or the mist seen through the window 

To the woven imaginaries 

Or the entangled realities 

With a sip of coffee, we sigh

Or the letters where words bleed

To the illuminating darkness around

Or the moments of being found.

In the world of belongings,

We do belong;

To somewhere, someone and something. 

We keep belonging 

To be everything 

when we are nothing.

~Aamna