I invite you to read Ükskord niikuinii before reading this story; because my relationship to the song is pivotal.
Once, there was a boy,
who was… very emotional.
He felt them very strongly,
and was overwhelmed often.
“Don’t be so sensitive”,
the people around him avowed.
As if they wanted to live
in an insensitive world.
The boy took to his heart
their unsolicited remarks,
and built shields around it
to “desensitise” and mask.
And succeeded so well,
that when he became an adult,
he found himself accused
of being uncaring and cold,
He was insensitive
even to that criticism.
Forgotten that he’d
ever been any different.
Eventually the boy
fathered a boy of his own,
who fell while toddling
and started to wail and groan
“Don’t cry” he automatically responded.
No. That’s a lie, he’d actually reacted.
But some inner-voice stirred,
and so he quickly recanted.
He told his child that
he could cry as much as he needed.
Meanwhile, in his embrace,
his boy felt wanted and heeded.
But, with his own tears,
he couldn’t yet showcase,
for he didn’t know how
to give himself the same grace.
He tried, albeit rarely,
because his son reciprocated.
But the process was often
difficult and complicated:
A culture that doesn’t
hold space for a boy
Certainly doesn’t
hold space for a man
And then one day,
in an alien land,
famous for its cold,
both weather and people,
In a land where songs are really special,
he heard a really special song.
It touched him very deeply, because
it was a land to which he belonged.
Tears burst through his shields
and streamed down his face.
Even amidst hundreds of people
This boy finally felt… safe
Standing beside him
by some karma? Or good fortune?
Perhaps coincidence?
Or was it intervention divine?
Was one of the friends,
who had, and still did,
make him feel welcome
in that cold alien land.
When she hugged him and told him
“Thank you for feeling our pain”
She helped the boy to realize:
compassion makes us human.