When I Forget Myself

This is a poem that I write to myself for a day when I betray my nation and settle abroad. I earnestly hope I would never need to read it to myself…

Millions of dreams seen in eyes
Aspirations that grow as time flies
Hopes conjured of a better tomorrow
With much more joy and lesser sorrow

Don’t you see the privileged one!
The clever, the talented, second to none;
The endless desire, the helpless stare
Which looks upon you in times of despair?

You live in the land that sings of glory
Relive the pride, the forgotten story
Today our mother carves for the golden days
When knowledge and culture flowed our ways

What makes you leave your mother in pain?
There is wrong to be corrected; do not refrain
There are beautiful places you aspire to roam
But nowhere else will you find a second home

Millions of shoulders you stand upon
How dare you forget them and try to move on?
You traitor! who sings a selfish tone
Who used their dreams to live his own

Coward you are; scared of grief
You stole their hopes; you are a thief!
Didn’t think twice as you betrayed their future
You selfish man; a shameless creature!

Time is not gone; you are not dead
There is a hope; waiting to be spread
Come back to yourself; in this lovely world
There is a flag; waiting to be unfurled

The value of a smile is too high to be measured
For it has nothing but true joy to be treasured
Embrace the nation as she embraces you
See her smile as you start your life anew