Sometimes we search for our identities
Especially if we are transplants in society

Born in the East
Bred in the West
I used to feel somewhere in between!

I felt at home in the West
But I was not sure
What to do with my Eastern roots
Eastern and Western
We are all one
But it took me a while
To reconcile these two parts!

It started when I began to read
The ‘translated’ poems of Rumi
The West made this Eastern jewel accessible to me!

For the first time I was really drawn to poetry!
This was not any poetry
It was mystical, and touched my heart!
It helped me understand!
It helped me heal!
It helped me see things more clearly!

Perhaps poetry is the great equalizer
It lets us know that we all have the same struggles
The same questions, the same fears and doubts
And we all need to love and be loved!

Perhaps poetry is all about love
Love for the Divine
Love for our fellow man
Love for the noble beings that we are

And then I put pen to paper
And wrote down my thoughts, my feelings
My experiences in life

Writing poetry was healing
Somehow feelings that were bottled up inside
Were allowed to slowly flow out!

The Western me and the Eastern me

Mingled and

The  poems were the result

Lida Berghuis
March 23rd, 2013