Exotic

What seems exotic doesn’t mean it will always suit you,

Some berries look delicious from a distance, 

But, not all of them tastes good. 

You might not like the flavor of a berry though it's appearance is appealing to you. 

Some flowers may look beautiful from distance until they are decorated in the vase and loses their glow. 

You may find the unfamiliar attractive, 

But, you may never know what effects it can bring when you get closer to it. 

You may fall in love with the accent of a foreign river never knowing whether you can float into it, 

You don't know if you can reach to the shore swimming in it. 

Probably, one day you are going to realize that's the real danger, 

We mistake unfamiliarity for destination,

Fill the distance with imagination, 

And, fathom difference as destiny,

We struggle in the endless mutiny of trying to uncover the unknown,

As if knowing everything would solve our all problems. 

But, the real problem begins when you understand too much, 

When you know it all- you become hopeless. 

You reach to a conclusion before exploring other options, 

You relearn a pattern that's hard to unfollow. 

You see an exotic ocean in a foreign country and imagine yourself flying there to see the beauty, 

But, before drenching yourself in the salt-waters you get drowned in the salty imaginations and you feel unhappy about your current situation,

That you live in a low-land surrounded by mountain with no sea, forgetting that your lungs were never meant for surviving the saltiness of that vast sea. 

You didn’t see it coming, 

Ouch! That hurts! 

Now, you don't know where you stand and where you belong! 

Again, you became a rootless caterpillar. 

Trying to tie knot with embers. 

You see an exotic fireplace and try to stay closer to it, you name it warmth of affection because for too long you've been deprived of it,

And, you have been cold for ages, 

You needed it badly. 

But, you didn’t know that same fire will one-day burn you without thinking twice in a blink,

Never asking the consequence of getting too close to the fire of desire would cost you a burnt body. 

Some things seems beautiful because they are exotic, but difference doesn’t always mean assimilating. 

You have tasted fire, you have seen oceans, 

You have crossed borders- only to understand nothing feels exotic anymore. 

Everything is too similar, 

Too ordinary and too banal. 

Nothing new, nothing phenomenal. 

You were seduced by the petals of the flower not knowing they would taste bitter, 

You were blinded by the torch light whose you were never the bearer. 

Your tongue may reject what your eyes sought  and your eyes may reject what your soul chose for you. 

What do you call it?! 

Fatal accidents or accidental fate? 

Anyways, whatever it is, 

It's not that simplified. 

You get electrified with a new attraction, 

Perhaps, you think of relocating to a new destination only to realize that you are forever the same -attracting same kind of luck, similar experiences. 

What do we call it?! 

Again fate or accident?! 

Or, accidental choice?! 

What do we name it?! 

Crisis of expectation?! Or, expecting too much beyond and above one's given life chances?! 

Do we get to taste the fruit of equality?! 

Uh, that's so exhaustively exotic! 

And, why do we even prefer equality over freedom?! 

Why does't freedom give you the taste of equality?!

Because, you are chained everywhere, 

New forms of shackles binds you every now and then.

You try to escape what makes you suffer-

From one chain to another until you find each one was similar-

You just didn’t know the strength of the chain,

They were unfamiliar....

So, continues the rat race of exotic endeavors. 

You didn’t know how strongly new chains will have a grip on you, 

How imminently they'll bind you!

A permanent grip you can't escape it! 

What do you call it?!

Race, gender, class, religion, ethnicity? 

You didn’t realize-

Until you were completely entrapped in the bondage. 

And, you keep doing so.....

Keep falling in the traps of finding exotic new chains!

Finding new chains while replacing the old ones, 

You bid farewell to the older and welcomed the new exotic issue- A permanent damage soon to be appearing in your mailbox by now.

And, finally I have realized -

I don't necessarily fit into what fascinates me,

What looks extraordinary does not necessarily make me happy.

What I desire from a afar might not be a better opportunity. 

I have swallowed my pride and learned bitterly that admirations are alive until you haven’t  grasped it in your palm, 

Everything untouched, unseen, unfathomed, unreachable remains beautiful until you get closer to it!

Will I ever belong?! 

Not necessarily, 

Or, possibly, 

Very likely!

Will I ever own?!

Perhaps, reluctantly, 

Or, happily. 

Depending on the paradox of freedom and equality! 

Will I ever get chose one of these?!

I will then always chose freedom to be equal in every diverse-themed dimentionality.

©® Farheen Akter Bhuian 

Timestamp: 1.03 AM CDT, Lubbock, TX