A thousand times over

In ‘The Kite Runner’ by Khaled Hosseini, when Hassan is asked to run and fetch a kite for Amir, he turns back and says, “Amir agha! For you, a thousand times over.”

What a way to portray deep and unwavering love! Inspired by this line, I wrote the following poem:

Arduous and long is the way,
And there is no path to follow.
But for you, I shall toil night and day..
Until life leaves me hollow.

What is hope? But, the faded memory of your face
And my burning desire to see it.
My soul is shackled by this earthly pace
It yearns for you to free it.

Whence, does this strength come? In all this pain..
To keep going, as I sink lower.
But, by heavens if you bid me to do it again,
I’d say – “For you, a thousand times over!”

17 comments

  1. Nice. It gave me that “brrr” feeling. Goosebumpy, man! Totally!

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  2. Thank you Faye!

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  3. You already know what I had to say about this. :) it gave me goosebumps.

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    1. Yes. Thank you :)

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  4. One of my favorite songs from my favorite singer ‘ Sara Bareilles- 1000 times’ expresses the same sentiment. You should hear it.

    I don’t like Kite Runner. It hurt me so much that I have decided never to read Khaled Hosseini again.

    I remember this scene you’ve described and it just sets the mood for your poem. It’s seems like a translated Arabic romantic poem. I love what you’ve written.

    ..and my god, you can rhyme! :D

    (Delete my previous erroneous comment. Please.)

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    1. One of my favorite songs from my favorite singer ‘ Sara Bareilles- 1000 times’ expresses the same sentiment. You should hear it.

      I’ve only heard one song by her and it was so teenage-goody-goody that I never heard anything by here again. I will give this a listen.

      I don’t like Kite Runner. It hurt me so much that I have decided never to read Khaled Hosseini again.

      Nahi yaar! The sadness is a happy-sadness. It is mellow, not sad. He has a way of telling stories. His writing is so much like the Persian shayars of yore. His observations are so spot on! Please read him. He deserves to be read.

      I remember this scene you’ve described and it just sets the mood for your poem. It’s seems like a translated Arabic romantic poem. I love what you’ve written.
      ..and my god, you can rhyme! :D

      Thank you :) That was the intention. Last line totally made my day. Thanks a lot!

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      1. >>I imagine that if I were a musician, I would be like ‘Florence + The Machine’
        But then really who am I kidding, I think I would be a Sara Bareilles (plus a non-committal John Mayer in love ;) )

        So, don’t call her teenage-goody-goody.. I will take that personally.

        >> I read Khaled when I was too young to appreciate what he was trying to say; he scarred me, man. Even now, I deeply understand sadness. I can’t empathize with weakness. I find it unforgivable. I don’t understand the book at all.

        Let’s see. Maybe someday when I realize that I need to drop the invincibility act, I will read him again.

        >> Keep writing! :D

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        1. >>Okay

          >>Okay

          >>Alright! :)

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    2. You liked Rehnuma na. Please comment there. I wanna see what you liked about it or how you felt after reading it.

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      1. Yeah.
        I really relate to the post, but it silenced me.. So I didn’t even know how to rate it.

        Give me some time. It triggers too many thoughts yar.. each time I read and reply to it, there’s some other facet I want to elaborate on.

        Three replies cancelled out already.

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        1. Arre baap re! Take your time :)
          Write whatever you want, don’t cancel. Just put whatever comes out. I’d like that.

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  5. Utkarsha · · Reply

    I see that you did have a copy of this! :)

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    1. Found on my cellphone :)

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  6. amarllyis · · Reply

    This is a really good poem. I took note of the second paragraph when Vaishnavi quoted it. :)

    Also, I agree with TSW, The Kite Runner broke my heart too.

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    1. Thank you! Yeah Vaishnavi told me that she’d put it on facebook (free publicity, yay!).

      Kite Runner broke my heart too. But it was a very beautiful heartbreak. I liked the whole process of coming to terms with the melancholy that it filled me with. I felt that it made me wiser and stronger.

      It gave me another perspective on Afghanistan and showed me that there exist a lot of beauty and meaning and wonderful people around us. We destroy it, sometimes by accident and sometimes by will, but it grows back. It showed me that goodness can bring a change of heart (like it did to Amir), however slow it may be.

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  7. The Kite Runner was an amazing work of art. Yes, it was sad. It broke me. But as I read this again today I am wondering if I should get back to it and re-read it. It is worth the pain, I say.

    Also, Amir and Hassan are worthy to be a part of “Loving Men”. I missed them!

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    1. YES!

      But it was more of a one-sided love from Hassan.. which compelled Amir to love him back. Nothing like the rest of the three you’re writing about. But definitely shows how powerful love can be! It can overwhelm grief, anger, jealousy and perhaps every other emotion.

      About the book, well definitely one of the best books I’ve ever read and I’ve read it twice, one of the few books that I felt like that about. I would recommend reading again. But do watch the movie before reading again, makes it even better.

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