not for us

paper planes take flight¹

japanese way of life²

and violins keep playing as the titanic sinks below³

omotenashi²

baybayin lakabáya¹

selamat^4,5

i press my hands into the earth^*

they plant seeds and seek⁶

one shares a story about a touch on the cheek⁷

another owes a debt to the people of the Bohol⁸

small losses⁹

once their guest⁸ forever their god^10,11 never _ forget

thank you⁴

a gentleman¹²

an even kinder woman⁷

dream of a destiny¹² where they will lose themselves¹³

remove themselves^{14, 15, 16}

and for the first time ever truly smile

kindness the mother of us all¹⁷

all ache for a sense of belonging¹⁸

acceptance and safety^19,20 connection^21,22 and warmth¹⁸

peace²¹

for simplicity

i am supposed to be their teacher but they teach me 

stories of their cultures

truth that lays wait in ancient texts^{23,24, 25, 26}

one tells me that giving ensures a reproduction of the soul²³

an antediluvian immortality²⁷

spirits journey forward never back^7,23

we chat about ideas without structure

of the long now _ of bridging and bonding and circles of concern

open ended invitations to notice the human

we speak of grace

the name _ for she is real

and as a concept and characteristic

a requirement

and a reminder

i tell them they are free to fail but none believe me

that our degrees don’t matter²⁸ and our phds don’t matter

just heart and awareness

of the vast cosmic sea _ and the realisation that our jobs are no different

sibayaffe²⁹

this is not about me

this is not for us²⁹

this is about others

and making sure they are ok. 

Notes

1: kl / 2: re / 3: ayp / 4: rdn / 5: ndd / 6: sw / 7: rkd / 8: maav / 9: ca / 10: hrd / 11: kvb / 12: jg / 13: hvr / 14: en / 15: pg / 16: pd / 17: aj / 18: sk / 19: kv / 20: klnl / 21: ymn / 22: ysc / 23: bsu / 24: sd / 25: ah / 26: anon / 27: smj / 28: np / 29: mn / *: jh 

For

So Fi Zine #13 / www.sofizine.com

ISSN

ISSN 2209-3028

Prompt

This came out of an intensive six-week postgraduate level course titled ‘The Hospitality Experience.’ The course quickly centered itself around the concepts of kindness, empathy, altruism and the idea that ‘to serve’ is not only an enlightened offer but a way to approach life itself.

This course has over time become a chance to discover and communicate on our own terms what hospitality truly is, and has become a place, both physical and metaphorical, to summon what is best in us.

This poem and the accompanying image has been created from student’s attempts to communicate what hospitality truly is without resorting to any kind of generic textbook definition. Some drew things, some scribbled down words, some wrote in their own language. There were no rules.

We used our initials to denote individual contributions (see in-text superscript referencing and the associated ‘Notes’).

Artwork Detail

‘paper planes’ ⎮ 15⎮ 05 ⎮ 2023 • Original – Manual Collage ⎮ Printed – Image of Original

Original Publication Date

28⎮ 06 ⎮ 2023

Re-Publication Date (With Permission)

13⎮ 11 ⎮ 2023

Thanks

Ash Watson (University of New South Wales) ⎮ Students (for momentarily suspending their disbelief)