where light divides

~ Sonya Kassam

From the International Space Station here is the India-Pakistan border at night. This photograph shows one of the few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night. The winding border between Pakistan and India is lit by security lights that have a distinct orange tone.
Source

India-Pak border
perhaps we hid behind borders because we are afraid to see
that “the other side” is no different from us
perhaps we don’t want to see ourselves in “them”
and so we light up borders and emulate the lines in our hearts
and our tongues deny that we speak the same language
so many borders such little land

21 thoughts on “where light divides”

  2. An eye-opener of an image and revealing in a sense. I’ve seen the drills at the Wagah birder between Amritsar and Lahore and have laughed at the sheer wastefulness of the whole macho exercise. One of us should call it off, all it fans is unnecessary jingoism without doing anything concrete.

    And if I may, I’d written about these arbitrary borders drawn by the colonials between lands on their whims – https://randomrantsruminationsramblings.wordpress.com/2016/01/11/making-geography-history/

    And I absolutely loved your last line in colour!

    God bless you, Sonya, and your talent!

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  5. Lovely post Sonya💕 This is the perfect example of how humans on both sides can see light, but sadly the light fails to illuminate their hearts and minds!

    I would like to share a few lines that come to my mind reading this:

    Kabhi deewaron aur zanjeeron ke aage bhi dekh, tu insaaniyat hi bhul gaya hai;
    Kabhi khud se puch aur zara aine mein dekh, tu insaan hokar bhi insaaniyat se hi dushmani kar gaya hai!

    Translated:
    Dare to look beyond the walls and chains, you have forgotten what it means to be human;
    Ask yourself and take a good look in the mirror, you despite being a human have become an enemy of humanity!

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    1. I was truly amazed not only by the photo but also that this is one of the few places on earth where we can see an international boundary by night. Wonder what God feels when He sees this from “above”? ;)

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  9. Dear Sonya,

    This is a powerful photo and poem. When the awareness of us in others, and others in us, is absent from our heart-being, then outer borders manifest, literally depicting in concrete form the state of our heart/being.

    The world is not big enough for two kings, and yet 10 dervishes can sleep under a single blanket.

    Borders will disappear when all people realize their unity with all other people.

    Thank you for this!

    All good wishes,

    robert

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