I remember several months ago
I met a guard by a waiting shed
As I waited for my dad to pick me up from the pier
His name, I've already forgotten
He was around his 40s, or 50s
Childless, if I remember
Had a tough life
Graduated in International Relations
Came from a well to do Chinese family
Yet all came crashing down so soon
After a few decisions then and there
He spoke to me in English
We talked for awhile
He said, people usually looked down
On guards like him
Thinking they were uneducated
They couldn't possibly have interesting lives
And at that moment I realized
People pass by every single day
Without giving them second glances
Without realizing they're human too
With stories as exciting as those in screens.
My father arrives to pick me up.
I stand up, glance at the guard and my father, and I see -
Life is truly spectacular.
As I sit by the passenger seat and drive away
The scenery changing before my eyes
I wonder if I was the first person to just sit down
And listen
I wonder how many sat down by that waiting shed before I did
Listening to his story
And I wonder how many have since then and will continue to
Listen
I wonder if I'll ever pass by him again
I wonder where he is right now
Is he still by that waiting shed?
Did he ever get a child?
Does he still remember me?
Was it perhaps all a dream I made up?
Who knows?
I wonder with glee and sadness
Knowing there are billions out there
With stories I will never know.
In my own waiting shed, I shall tell my story too,
Through my own fleeting life
Through the decisions I'll make
Through the people I'll love
Through the people I'll lose
Through these poems -
And I hope somebody listens.
A Forrest Gump story, don't you think?
People are interesting creatures. You just have to look deep enough. There is a story in every one of us, waiting to be told.
Sonder series #1.
Sonder (n.)
"The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own."
- Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
