Monday, September 7, 2009

WHAT MAKES US HUMAN?

This poem I had dedicated to my son born in Australia when he started to question: himself, people around him, place where he lives and his family. Before he was born he survived a car crash and battled series of illnesses and operations throughout his childhood. This poem was written when he once again missed his school, because he was just to sick to go...





WHAT MAKES US HUMAN ?

Our seaside port
Monday June 9, 2008
/ Destructive winds of up to 180 kmh cut a 30m-wide swath through port
after the tornado hit the coast at Shoalwater Bay about 7.40 am
Bureau of Meteorology WA/

One Winter Monday morning
when sky was no more blue,
lightening fleshed and thunder roared,
a tornado
hit our neighborhood

We rest, me and my son
in our cozy room,
oblivious
to weather outside
he moaned with pain
I fought the Flu

Remus picked my ‘Cosmos’ journal
with nothing else
to do
he looked at the picture
of a chimpanzee
and read the words:
‘ WHAT MAKES US HUMAN?’
“ What does, Mum?”
“I don’t have a clue.”

‘ WHAT MAKES US HUMAN?’
I watched his eager gaze.
“Let me think,
our curiosity,
our feelings,
our desire
to learn?”

“ I don’t think so, Mum,”
he shook his head
in a protest
like twelve years old do:
“ Our dog is clever,
he even knows when I’m sad
and that is true.”

“ We BELIEVE in something,
that animals can’t do,
we want to know,
where do we come from,
who we are,
who is our family,
and our places,
we belong to.

Together,
we manage to survive,
together,
we fight the challenges
together,
we find new ways
to get us through.


“ But, I don’t know anything
about my family.”
He shrugged and threw
the ‘Cosmos’ away.
“ I don’t even know anything about YOU.”

“ Then close your eyes and IMAGINE,
that’s another thing just humans can do,
I take you to places,
where I once belonged.
Maybe once,
you visit them too.”

“ That’s awesome, I like traveling,
I will go for sure,
tell me about them,
so I will know them all,
just like you.”

“ That is something YOU can’t do,
look at this storm…”

“ Storms are cool.”

“ Maybe for you,
what about a few streets down?’

“ You mean like those roofs
and fences flew? And what about those peple? I bet they can be hurt too?

” You see, you can feel the pain of others,That's the other thing animals can't do."
"THAT IS WHAT MAKES US HUMAN:

TO EXPLORE
TO DISCOVER
TO UNDERSTAND
TO SEE THE WORLD
FROM DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW.




The following week when my son finally recovered and started his new school and his behaviour changed. He was anxious how students would react to his unusual name and pale look. He was too weak to excell in sport. Usually talkative and of bubbling personality he started to withdraw and spend more time alone in his room. His frequent outburst of anger surprised me. He lost interest in learning and his old friends. His new teachers s felt confused about his behaviour and started to associate his recent troubles with psychological problems. I explained his recent troublesome medical experiences and asked to give him more time to fit in.



The following weekend I took him to the Stiriling Range, our closest mountains. We invited our family and friends to join us and we TALKED...

I explained to my son that it was me, who is responsible for his ongoing health problem, as I was driving my car in the seventh month of him expecting to be born, too fast. I was rushing to finish my studies, I wanted to have everything at home ready before he is born, I HAD NO TIME...and I nearly lost him.
I said, I am sorry and he just nodded. I promised to always find time for him and listen to him.

He said he wants to be treated at school like everyone else. Maybe his health is going to worsen but he wants to try ...
All he nees is to heal and get over his normal anxieties and insecurities. It was just one of his many life experiences and he can deal with it.

 I explained that I was just scarred more than him and I hoped that his health starts to  improve.


We sat on the top of the sunny hill and bellow us threatening clouds rolled and covered a nearby town.
" I know now how the people down there feel like," my son looked up at me and we smiled at each other.
We knew. We managed to see each other's point of view.


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