28.02.2022
He arrived yesterday,
a refugee,
with no nationality
but an ID card he renews
every year.
A bright red oath glowed
on his forehead.
“I will only remove it
when my country gets freedom”
he declared.
He spoke,
I listened,
to the tales of his country ,
and it’s confiscators,
3509 kilometers from here,
beyond the mountains.
“My countrymen were nomads” he said.
He another one, I thought,
with his huge backpack
and a cloth bag
full of books he wrote,
slept anywhere, ate meagrely
and spoke three tongues.
“Sometimes I feel more a part of this country”
he mused,
“but am unarmed by the way
others stare
and call me
ching-chong ping - pong,
ensues rage sometimes,
sometimes laughter…”
but still moves on!
“Intelligence and compassion is all one needs,”
he told me,
“a mind unfettered…”
and pat his national flag
tucked safely in his pocket,
then walked ahead
to new boundaries to cross .
*Tenzin Tsundue is a Tibetan poet, writer and activist who has dedicated his life for the cause of his nation's freedom.
