Fortunate Enough to Experience Solidarity!

Solidarity - a foreign word for many,
a rich one for those who felt it gently.
Europe – even more estranged,
not for those whose lives are otherwise arranged.

Let me take you on a journey of my memories,
I tell you a story of no apologies.
Each frame is real and comes from the heart,
I am proud to call these people my counterparts.

Inside a Prague tramway,
he threw himself into my Saturday.
This fellow from the UK stood on my side,
as soon as this one dispute intensified.

The backyard of a Zagreb hostel,
the place we first met; none of us a local.
You warmly helped me pay my debt,
for that I did not change my currency yet.

With each passing morning in Sofia,
we soon got to speak the same lingua.
Thinking alike about that dorm of ours,
I made a new Croatian friend within hours.

On a night out in Warsaw,
I could not be but in the Romanian’s draw.
As a well-mannered and modest guy,
he had all questions about nationality fall behind.

On Faro beach, a Portuguese oasis,
my level of compassion grew on endless.
Characters from the South so warm, loving and selfless,
let me experience unprecedented human finesse.

A Maastricht apartment block,
is where our friendship was unlocked.
All the moments you gave me,
made you turn from friends into family.

In Kyiv, my most recent destination,
solidarity seemed like an in-built credential.
Ukrainians are people-loving through and through,
for help never expecting any revenue.

Thanks to the many people featured here,
no matter your current location, far or near.
Some of which I still call friends today,
Thanks for showing me European solidarity in this way.