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OPEN
The dimensions of my mind have always been consistent
The sun sets and dances with the moon
While the pages of textbooks implant into my brain
The closing of my mind accelerating
Day in and day out, the clock’s hands spin around, never dizzy
The landscape of mind reduced to barren land
The window of mind to world view put to shame
The closing of my eyes to an Earth not all about me
The day of flight inched closer and closer
Until the day disrupted the continuity of routine
Who knew 19 hours in the endless sky on a plane
Would change my complacence
Flying over a palette of all sorts of people
The realization of the beauty of humanity
Human civilization all across the nations
All different, but all people
19 hours on a plane
To a country most others cannot find on a map
To a country of bending rivers and green
Of bright smiles and hearts burning as much as the weather’s sun
One step onto the land of rivers, out of the world of known routine
Others think it’s a country of “the impoverished,” “the slums,” and more
But it’s a country where my face only smiles
And a country that cleanses my heart and brain
One civilization, many people, many perspectives
My world view awakens from its slumber
The barren land of my mind sprouts seedlings
The window of my mind opens to a view of the glimmering sea of life.
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The poem above is about arriving in Bangladesh. My parents and the rest of my family come from Bangladesh while only me and my older sister were born in the US. In the poem I delineate how before the trip, every single day would feel exactly the same with my routine life. Wake up, study, eat, sleep, repeat. Life can be so banal if there is no change, and a person’s perspective outside of their own bubble starts to diminish if we don’t discover new things, meet new people, and live a little differently.
Accordingly, after coming to Bangladesh, I have seen new places, new things, and new people all with different ideas and backgrounds and ways of living. I describe this as a “palette of all sorts of people” in the poem, which is absolutely true. The rest of the poem goes on to describe what I call my “pilgrimage of happiness.” Seeing family that I haven’t visited in so many years opened my eyes and heart more from my shrinking world perspective from seeing the same people and places 24/7. I realized the effect that the ties of blood can have on people. Even after seeing my cousins and aunts and uncles after so long, I’ve never felt as close to people as I had with them. My cousins became my brothers and sisters, and my aunts and uncles became my fathers and mothers. All of this love filled my heart entirely.
The poem demonstrates how I filled the emptiness that I never knew existed. My heart and eyes are open, and love and happiness is all I feel. This is life. The unfortunate part is that when I return to America and my routine life, my mind might close again, just focussing on myself and my own concerns. But in that case, I’ll just need to find some other way to open it. Anyways, I can meet new people and try new things anywhere in the world, even in my hometown. At least my newfound disposition of opening my heart and mind will remain.