March 1 is Bosnian independence day. I still remember the first one clearly.

Mesa Selimovic is one of Bosnia’s greatest literaries, philosophers, sociologists, but above all else, a patriot. In his book, Derwish and the Death, he describes the paradox of being a Bosnian, and an excerpt from it amazes me. His ability to describe what it means to be Bosnia or Bosnian in this universe is timeless, and it is worth knowing. Disclaimer of course, this is my attempt at translation, not an official one.

We are no one’s,

Always on some median, always someone’s dowry.

For centuries we have been searching and rediscovering ourselves. Soon we won’t even know who we are.

We live on the cross road of worlds, on the borders of peoples, always guilty to someone.

The waves of history break against us as against a rock

We have been torn away, but not accepted.

Like a water stream separated from its mother by a rapid, no longer a stream, but neither a delta.

Too small to be a lake, too big for the earth to absorb it.

Others honor us by having us walk under their flag, because we do not have ours.

They bait us when we are needed, and reject us when we have served our purpose.

It is unfortunate that we have fallen in love with this deadbeat land, and we won’t leave.

But everything has a price, even that love.

Everyone thinks they will outsmart the rest, that is our misfortune too.

What kind of people are the Bosnians? They are the most entangled people in the world.

History has not joked with anyone like it has with Bosnia.

Yesterday we were that which today we want to forget, yet we have not become something different either.

With an unclear feeling of shame because of guilt and rejection, we do not want to look back, but we have no time to look forward.

It is unfortunate that we have fallen in love with our deadbeat land, so we won’t leave. But everything has a price, even that love.

Are we by accident so overly soft and cruel, gentle and hard, do we accidentally hide behind love, as the only clarity in this uncertainty, and why?

Because we are not indifferent. And since we are not indifferent, we are honest. And when we are honest, then here’s to our foolishness.

Mesa Selimovic