A poem for Alia Bouklachi

The other day, I was telling Alia a tale about 2 frogs.

Today, I’d like to share with her this poem, written in English by Khalil Gibran.

Khalil Gibran

Khalil Gibran, whose real name is Gibran Khalil Gibran, but was mistakenly shortened when he arrived in America, is a poet from the beginning of the 20th century. He was born in 1883 and best known for his work called The Prophet (1923).

On Children, from The Prophet

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.
     And he said:
     Your children are not your children.
     They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
     They come through you but not from you,
     And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

     You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
     For they have their own thoughts.
     You may house their bodies but not their souls,
     For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
     You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
     For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
     You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
     The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
     Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
     For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

I’ll let you decide by yourself wether this 1923 poem is relevant for Alia’s story.

Sharing is helping Alia Bouklachi find her mother.

If you know anyone in Algeria, please share her story, so that one day she can get her life back.

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