In this Poetry Contest, we invited EU-CONEXUS students and staff to express in their own way what a sense of place* meant to them.
84 beautiful poems were submitted in which the authors shared the emotional connection or bond they had to a specific place, area or location and what made them so special and unique.
*“Sense of Place” refers to the emotional attachment and meaning people associate with a particular location, shaped by personal experiences and cultural significance.
My favorite place, Simon Schmidt, Universität Rostock
(…)
Not the cosmos nor outer space,
our own Earth, is my favorite place.
Bright and Warm, green and blue.
A rainbow casts a beautiful hue.
Earths beauty is second to none.
A moon that perfectly covers the sun.
Canyons, carved by water in lime.
Mountains standing the test of time.
The sight of stars, the sound of thunder,
this planet is truly full of wonder.
All grains of sand that storms have blow,
every tree and every stone,
every seed was ever sewn,
it's more fragile, than we've ever known.
Earth in its magnificent beauty,
has tasked us, with the most important duty.
To protect, preserve and understand,
its animals and plants, mountains and sand.
This is an ode to outer space,
an ode to my favorite place,
an ode to the human race,
and an ode to all we're yet to face.
A place to belong, Hamza Masri, Universität Rostock
(…)
I learned the art of beginning again,
Of sowing roots in reluctant ground,
A garden of hope growing quietly,
Though storms of doubt would still
Surround
The food on my plate tasted different at
first,
Yet the spices began to harmonize.
My story intertwined with others,
Weaving a fabric no thread denies.
Now, I walk with the steps of two lives,
One behind and one ahead.
The past whispers softly, the future hums,
And I find my place between the
frequencies of their sounds.
Belonging is not a moment but a journey,
A dance of loss, a song of gain.
In the fusion of then and now, I flourish,
For even in struggle, beauty remains.
Poems by all partners of the alliance can be found on the EU-CONEXUS website:
https://www.eu-conexus.eu/en/poetry-contest-on-the-sense-of-place/
DISCLAIMER : Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EACEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.