Many times I've walked through Budapest being struck by something I wanted to share. Here, I do just that. What follows are glimpses along life's path that had touched my heart. Enjoy! Budapest Daily Photos recently moved to its own home. The photos here may be enlarged by clicking on them unlike BudapestResources.com website, its previous home.
Andrassy ut 60 was the headquarters of the former secret police and thus referred to as the House of Terror. The people taken in there seldom ever reappeared. It was also in the basement of this building that Imre Nagy was hung.
Along the walls on the outside of the building are some of the photos of those visitors who never emerged again. It is a moving monument, as it were, on Andrassy that otherwise spectacular boulevard.
The Invitation
It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.
It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”
It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.
It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.
16 comments:
wow! what a dramatic place... and eerie too! those pictures a so gorgeous!!
Great shots of an eerie place!
Amazing photos of a house full of dark memories.
I still dont understand how people can treat others the way we do. The memorial is touching.
Your pictures are a constant amazement for me!! This is a city of textures and light. And you so deftly capture this...Thank you!!! Cathy
There has been a dramatic change in the political world there and now everyone is encouraged to remember, to never forget, to not let it happen again. I am sure I would shudder when walking by those photographs, imagining the terror those people must have felt.
The times have sure changed if they are now posting pictures of people that have not emerged from the building. Is that admitting guilt?
It is definitely NOT one of my favorite places and as to times changing? Only on the surface, but people really do have a short memory and are interested only in their own well being.
Our current prime minister is none other than a son-in-law of one of THE most prominent men in the former regime - the former prime minister stepped down when his spy activities were uncovered. All the old beliefs are still firmly planted - wolves in sheep's clothing.
Thank you for all the wonderful comments - what a nice thing to wake up to and enjoy with my coffee :)
Awesome photos and info!
Be careful!
It's still a chilling-looking building, Isadora, and what a distressingly long line of photos.
Very sad.axiga
Sorry about the strange "axiga" on the end of the last comment; it was the "word Verification" word and I typed it in the comments box by mistake.
What a dork.
brrrrr, horrible! thank God it's over!
Wow. Cool post.
Dramatic history and shot.
Wow, these are great shots!
sandy
Your post is a beautiful and lasting memorial to those who are lost forever.
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