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