A man sits in front of me. He looks at me with warm eyes. If you look closely, you also discover an anguish. An anguish that may have led to the deep wisdom that also shines through clearly. He tells me about his poems. He tells me that we are all connected, that it is the same air that gives life to us all. He experiences that humans have closed in on themselves, that we have forgotten that fact. Forgotten the connection. That we think the most important thing is to take care of ourselves. He has withdrawn, he says. Withdrawn from the society he does not believe in. Now he lives on the streets.
He is not like the others at Speakers Corner this Sunday in Hyde Park. He is quiet. He does not shout. He writes his colorful words down on white cardboard and when I sit down with him he immerses himself in the conversation with me, as if there is no one else. As if there is no chaos around us. For me too, there is peace. He looks me in the eyes and does not look away. As if he is trying to look into me, to see me. The meeting makes an impression.
I can easily go back to that meeting. I can see the man. I can see his gaze in my mind's eye and reconnect. The meeting was in the summer of 2007. For eleven years this short meeting has stayed with me. The man touched my heart because his words came directly from within him.
A man was sitting at Speakers Corner. He had something on his heart that he wanted to share with the world. I think he would be happy to have his words shared again.
KNOW
KNOW ONE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
KNOW ONE CAN CHANGE IT ALL
KNOW ONE CAN LEARN THE LESSONS
OR KNOW ONE IN FRACTIONS WILL FALL
KNOW ONE CAN LOOK IN THE MIRROR
KNOW ONE CAN SEE THEIR OWN FATE
KNOW ONE CAN TRULY LOVE AND CARE
OR KNOW ONE WILL LEAVE IT TOO LATE
KNOW ONE CAN LOOK TO THE FUTURE
KNOW ONE CAN LEARN FROM THE PAST
KNOW ONE'S FREE WILL IS ALL ONE HAS
AND KNOW ONE CAN CHANGE REALLY FAST
KNOW ONE CAN WAKE FROM THE SLEEP
KNOW ONE CAN STOP ALL THE VIOLENCE
AND KNOW ONE CAN TAKE FAITH'S LEAP
KNOW ONE CAN STOP ALL THE WARS
KNOW ONE CAN STOP ALL THE CRIME
KNOW ONE CAN TAKE THE RIGHT ACTION
OR KNOW ONE WILL RUN OUT OF TIME
KNOW ONE CAN LIVE IN FREEDOM
KNOW ONE CAN TRULY SHARE
KNOWING ONE CAN OPEN ONE'S HEART
AND KNOW ONE CAN BE AWARE
Jeanette Lykkegaard
PhD student in Anthropology with a special interest in how people around the world deal with existential questions about life and living it, death and what comes after. In addition to learning new perspectives on the world through my subject, I enjoy, among other things, the smell of earth, the sound of laughter, the sight of a sunrise and the other moments when I feel completely and utterly alive.
