on 26th of October 2018
From these randomly selected comments below, written on post-it notes and left by people who live in close proximity of Tate Modern, I composed a poem/story/play: In A Lift With My Tate Neighbours
Forgive often
The meek mast no longer be meek
Let Ni In
It’s never too late to start living
Hallo Everyone
Less afraid More Alive
Shops have food
Give people food and money
I love my dada and mama
Bog
Safe Passage
You should hug people when they need hug
There is a limit To How Many People Fit in a lift
Call an old friend
How to find myself in the big world family?
In A Lift With My Tate Neighbours
I only placed my foot in when
Someone shouted,
There is a Limit To How Many People Fit in a Lift
Hello Everyone, I said,
Can you Let Ni In?
Create a Safe Passage, said my friend, a poet, Laila, who was already in the lift.
Who’s Ni?, someone else said,
We can’t see anyone but you.
Call (her) an old friend, I said,
It takes a long time to grow an old friend,
- as someone said long before.
You should hug people when they need hug,
That’s How To Grow An Old Friend
I love my dada and mama, said a child in the lift,
I couldn’t see.
It’s been a long time since we shared a meal, though,
Ni and me – I said – We ran out of food.
Shops have food, someone shouted,
You should Give people food and money –
Someone else said,
The meek must no longer be meek.
You know what - I said - Before you start a riot –
There is no Ni. There is just me.
I was just looking for
How to find myself in the big world family?
Less afraid More Alive, someone shouted from the lift.
By the time we arrived to the place we never left,
I had everyone on my side.
It’s never too late to start living,
someone patted me on the back as we parted.
I know, I said, I Forgive myself Often.
Bog!, said the child I never managed to see.
Copyright Edin Suljic 2018.