Importance

I wanted to love the mountains,
But I heard they were made of stone, so I turned away.
I wanted to love the sea,
It welcomes everyone who comes to its shore.
But I didn't favor shared love,
So this love ended before it began.
I wanted to love the moon,
But I heard it too carries its scars.
When love carries shame from the start,
How can one truly embrace it?
So I let it go and turned away.

At last, I loved someone, yet found no importance there.
I live my life through work,
How else could I repay all the debts of living?
At week’s end, I had just one day to spend as I wished,
Even then, I did not find my beloved, nor did she hear the cry of this lover.
She was like the moon, never short of love.
She was like a mountain, firm as stone,
It was even her nature to give pain.
Her heart stretched wide like the sea,
Love for all,
As if she were born with the power to love the whole world.

Like a beggar, I tried to explain,
“Perhaps every day is yours alone.”
Look, I'm a servant of others, working to survive.
If you had given me just one day, I would have cherished it humbly.
Would it have mattered? She, unlike me, never lacked love.
Even after my week’s leave ended,
Many would still love her, even if I were gone,
For by nature, she loves one after another all the same.

I realized the world isn't equal for all.
On one side, God grants someone fullness,
On the other, some are consumed by lack.
The one who killed me with neglect,
How could she ever know the ache of being insignificant?

Poem: Importance
by Khubayb Hossain