A Glimmer In The Dark

A sample of A Glimmer In The Dark

A Glimmer in the Dark

Samman Akbarzada

Thought Catalog Books · thoughtcatalog.com

Copyright © 2022 Samman Akbarzada.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or any means, electronic or mechanical, without prior written consent and permission from Thought Catalog.

Published by Thought Catalog Books, an imprint of Thought Catalog, a digital magazine owned and operated by The Thought & Expression Company LLC, an independent media organization founded in 2010 and based in United States of America. For stocking inquiries, contact stockists@shopcatalog.com.

Produced by Chris Lavergne and Noelle Beams

Art direction and design by KJ Parish

Creative editorial direction by Brianna Wiest

Circulation management by Isidoros Karamitopoulos

thoughtcatalog.com | shopcatalog.com

First Edition, Limited Edition Pressing

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 978-1-949759-54-9

Introduction

What is poetry but a moment of weakness, and what is art if not finding pleasure in one’s suffering? There is an eerie beauty in pain; even if we were the ones writing our fate, we would have probably, as well, written fragments of gloom to elevate the thrill.

Like all other art forms, literature is not only for comfort but also for coping with the atrocities of dear life, forcing us to crawl under our skin until it feels right and we can breathe again. Like-minded poets have inspired me to write fearlessly, be myself, run out of sad words, and not feel guilty about it. Music and lyrics inspire me perhaps even more profoundly than literature. This influence has given a sort of elusive style to my words. Poems are not constructed to be lenient in tone with satisfying, expectantly familiar conclusions. Instead, they are formed like waves of classical symphonies at the peak of collapsing while enveloped in optimistic gloom. By ending lethargic days with honest pieces, for ephemeral moments, we are at peace. Its aftereffects can be lasting; lovely it is to drench in a mellowed aura while the world crumbles around us. I aspire A Glimmer In The Dark to be that sanctuary.

I think it is life in general, but we get the even more ephemeral version of it. Living life as an Afghan or being from any country tormented by war, the saddest part is that you never get the chance to cherish your people for a satisfactory amount of time. It is a constant race, everything. You are always running, an endless trip. The only stable place you have is the mirage of your home built in the warzone. However, the good thing is that memories now mean the most to you; you will now live and die for them. Pictures and albums will be the most crucial thing you own because that was what you could bring with you from a dead past—one you must mourn in silence. You cannot scream forever in a never-ending funeral, now can you?

Maybe you could not understand the uncertainty of your mother or the overwhelming suggestions of your father, but now you do, very well, and perhaps now you are exactly like them, even though you had said you wouldn’t ever be. No sense of home; home is not four walls and a ceiling because you have seen how it collapses in seconds. Home is the people who wretched with us and made it alive by salvaging each other’s fragments. It makes us love them more; that is all we can do. War might be evil, but it is only through its ruins that we find a kind of treasure others are unaware of: the value of being together, the certain truth that tomorrow is never promised. May you savor that bittersweet sentiment scattered throughout these pages.

What I love most about poetry is that poems are not made up of mere metaphors. Poetry binds stars, the moon, galaxies, and the universe; it binds flowers, rivers, oceans, and nature to inevitable words. It connects, it unites, and that is breathtakingly beautiful. I have brought my sparkle of connections to A Glimmer In The Dark and my mother’s too, as the first ten Dari poems are hers. She has been my inspiration from day one; I feel honored to share her beautiful poetry in these pages.

Amidst the isolating chaos that a wanderer must go through, in between endless hours of writing, I find a certain tranquility in it; each piece is my sweet escape from reality. The write-ups created in that phase are daring so enjoy the abandoned questions you will encounter in A Glimmer In The Dark and answer each for yourself. Feel weary, halt the ever-spinning, dwell in each poem, and then may the happy poem make you smile afterward. Have a taste of what goes through my mind. It is not always sweet, but it is worth the endeavor.

Maybe a part of us is forever left behind. Maybe there was a happier version of life that we never got to live. Maybe some pains do not have a lesson and are only endured, some scars never fade away, and these high winds will bring us closer. Maybe that is the purpose of storms, and maybe healing is making peace with all of these notions. But, despite all of that, I still think that what matters the most is that we do not let our hearts die at the end of the day.

Dari poem

Souvenir