You do belong

Poem by Stefanos Vavakos.

I’m not quite sure what I was longing for.

When coming to this city, a sandbox of opportunities,

Seemed like the perfect environment with all the right trees.

Association after association, event after event,

Meeting people and people again,

Seeing how acquaintances turned to classmates,

Becoming regulars at cafés and turning into friends.

Or when we actually started walking, running, biking around,

Recognising these streets, parks, signs again and again,

Remembering how far you are from home, uni or friends’ houses,

And just barely remember, depending on the weather, to wear more or less blouses.

And yet, what is it that we seek when we settle down?

The question between alone and lonely, why do we ask ourselves that ?

In a room full of people, you’re not alone… but do you feel like it?

What is it that leads us to such questions and wondering what we’re doing somewhere?

It is the fear of not belonging. There it is, I said it,

Finally admitting the one thing we often seem to neglect and embellish,

The one thing that no matter how long you know people, you still fear to bring up,

Because that is the one thing that brings us closer together, no ?

I always thought it’d be fine, though, right?

Get to know people, so many faces, names, characters, lives,

So many that you meet, talk, converse, experience with or admit to,

The ones, among the many, you dare to ask, “Do. I. belong ?”

It’s the feeling that even though you’re not looked at,

You’re appreciated.

Although you’re not spoken to or asked

You still feel part of the conversation,

And while you zone out for a moment,

When you least expected, you’re seen, noticed, perceived.

That is the beauty, at least in my eyes, to belong.

It’s to be seen, appreciated, cherished and welcomed,

Feeling part of something bigger, even if with less than a handful of people,

It’s feeling like you belong where you are, because you know you “live” and “experience”,

In a constant, non-verbal, dialogue with your city, your neighbourhood or environment,

You feel talked “with” instead of talked “to”,

You feel welcomed, appreciated, in the environment you feel comfortable in yourself.

Because… why wonder if you belong in a garden,

You initially didn’t want to enter in the first place?

Remember all the “why”s and the “since when?”s that led you here,

Those questions that make you wonder, and take a step back.

Because, you are the one who decides where you’d like to belong,

And why and how come and since when and for what goal -

Of course if you admit yourself the latter as well -

Since all these come hand in hand with how honest you are with yourself.

And thats’s the truth. It. all. depends. on. us. No?

Our perception, perspective, point of view.

It remains our sole responsibility to decide how we let things affect us,

Or perhaps only, and already so much, how we’d like to respond to them…

We decide, and we choose.

And like the plethora of reels I’ve seen… I came across,

What you don’t change, you choose,

And what you take for granted you lose.

Here we are in Groningen,

And if we don’t take a step back from our speedy routines,

We’ll end up lost in this movie’s endless filler scenes.

Thus take a better look and see,

How this city has become to be,

What it is today, breathing, existing, persisting,

Thanks to you living !

You belong, just like words belong to a song,

Like rhymes belong to a poem,

Like thunder belongs to a storm,

Like burning food belongs to a new uni student.

You belong here, in this room, in this city,

Groningen is Groningen thanks to you,

And that is what matters to remember,

And at difficult moments not to surrender.

As time flows,

Whether consciously or right under your nose,

It might be time to step back and see,

How you’ve come to ultimately be and belong

In this city, in our lives, like a melody belongs to a song.

Thank you

Stefanos Vavakos - 05.2025

You can find more poetry by Stefanos on his IG page: Vast Poetry