Meeting Tsundue*

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.