Latest / The Letterbox Podcast / To My Westward Lady | A Love Letter To Tbilisi, Returning To A Place That Changed Me

Transcript

To My Westward Lady | A Love Letter To Tbilisi, Returning To A Place That Changed Me · The Letterbox Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome back to the Letterbox podcast, the place
• 0:04
  where I share real letters from real people, one letter at a
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  time. I'm Lucy, and a few times a week
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  I read a letter exactly as it was written by the person who
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  sent it. No edits, no interviews, just
• 0:20
  their words. Today's letter comes from Paulo,
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  and he wrote to me from what he calls the sleepy Middle Eastern
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  countryside. He tells me that this piece is
• 0:34
  about the joy of travelling, the beauty of taking time, and a
• 0:37
  letter to a beautiful place he's just recently travelled Back
• 0:40
  from. His is a love letter to Tbilisi,
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  the capital of Georgia. He first visited the city as a
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  teenager, then returned 13 years later.
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  He discovered that perhaps the place hadn't changed nearly as
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  much as he had. If you enjoy listening to
• 1:00
  today's beautiful and poetic letter, I'd love for you to
• 1:04
  follow the podcast. And then if you can, share it
• 1:08
  with someone who you think might enjoy it too.
• 1:11
  It really means the world to me. It means I can keep bringing you
• 1:14
  these letters from all over the world.
• 1:17
  And of course, if there's a letter you've always wanted to
• 1:20
  write, perhaps to a person, a place, a memory, or even a
• 1:23
  version of yourself, you can find all the details you need in
• 1:26
  the show notes. So here it is, Paolo's love
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  letter to the city of Tbilisi. Dear my westward lady, we met on
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  a quiet summer. I was scared to travel, stuck in
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  my bubble in the routine of teenage holiday.
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  You were my first trip westward, a place I couldn't find on the
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  map, a land lush and city old, unlike the future where I was
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  born. I remember standing out three
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  shades darker than anyone else. I remember your wine, and I
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  remember wanting to leave. How silly I was naive and young,
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  only to return 13 years later and realised just how pretty you
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  were and how beautiful you've become.
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  Though much has changed. You greeted me with familiar
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  blue skies while the grass draped over you like a perfect
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  dress. Then and there I remembered the
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  shape of you in the city. I was happy to look at old
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  buildings where the stone was exposed and balconies unique.
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  No glass, no gold, no ivory towers, just houses where real
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  people lived. We drove by our old place and
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  got turned into a holiday home. Though it was gentrified, I'm
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  glad the beds are still warm. We dress quite differently now,
• 3:00
  more rebellious. Unbridled leather jackets,
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  denim, punk rock and the smell of cigarettes.
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  I think that look quite suits you, and I would gladly take
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  your attitude over monograms, high heels and proclamation of
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  simplicity. We've both become grizzled, me
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  with my eye bags, you with your graffiti.
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  And though you lived in a man's world, I'm glad you never caved
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  in. The books on the pavement were
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  plentiful. We spent hours reading by the
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  lobby, then we went to get coffee.
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  When our eyelids became heavy, we'd sneak away from our friends
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  to talk. We'd watch jazz on cold nights.
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  You listened to me go on about how beautiful the people were
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  because they were so different from the ones I knew.
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  We saw the relics of your past while I told you stories from
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  the Orient. You told me about your history.
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  And I listened this time. We gave away so much in tips to
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  musicians, poets and cooks. We'd put down our phones and
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  leave our days to chance. We took wrong turns, turned away
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  scammers, drank coffee again and took many pictures.
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  We bought each other gifts. We went to watch a wedding.
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  We danced, we danced and we danced again.
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  Then we drank to understand each other.
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  We stayed up late. We ran from the summer rain.
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  You watched me become kinder, and we sat in a park on a late
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  night. I began writing poetry again.
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  There were still so many things I wanted to say in just a week
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  together. We lived so many lifetimes.
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  Our days were full, our bodies were drunk, our feet ached, and
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  we kept going. The next morning, I dressed up
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  slowly. I played a song to remember you
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  by, and on my way to the airport, I saw you walking down
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  the street. The lady who stole my heart then
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  and there. Once a boy's, now a young man's.
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  Perhaps you'd still have space for me, because one day I'd like
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  to propose. Though if you'd be so kind to
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  wait, I'd like to ask you out for dinner 1st, and when that's
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  done, we'd read more books, go on walks and get coffee when our
• 5:38
  eyes closed. The day after, I'll ask you out
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  to lunch. We'll spend the afternoon
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  together over cigarettes, graffiti and parks.
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  And because it's real, we'd do it again.
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  Because in love we take time, and all good things come with
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  age. So let's wait, let's be slow,
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  let's live, let's grow, let's meet again, let's share more
• 6:07
  stories, new and old. And when that's done, we'll
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  walk, we'll dance, we'll drink and happily plan The days after
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  that was Paolo's love letter to the city of Tablisi that he
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  called his westward lady. I think one of the loveliest
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  things about that letter is it's reminded that not every love
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  story has to be about a person. Sometimes it is about a place,
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  it's about returning somewhere years later and realising that
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  what changed wasn't just a city, but it was you.
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  And I think it's so true and something that so many of us
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  will be able to relate to. And that's that As a child or a
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  teenager, sometimes you really just don't recognise or
• 6:58
  appreciate the beauty that you're surrounded with.
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  And going back as an adult, you see things through different
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  eyes, you see the things you missed before, and there really
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  is a magic in that. So thank you, Paulo, for
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  trusting me with your words. Again, if you enjoy today's
• 7:17
  episode, please follow the Letterbox podcast wherever you
• 7:20
  are listening. It helps more people to discover
• 7:23
  these stories. I'd really love as well if you
• 7:26
  could give the podcast a rating and then don't forget to share
• 7:29
  it with somebody else. Let's see how far these letters
• 7:33
  can travel. Remember, if you've got
• 7:35
  something you want to share in letter form, whether it's
• 7:38
  joyful, heartbreaking, funny, hopeful, or something that
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  doesn't really fit neatly into any category, I would love to
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  read it. So head to the show notes and
• 7:49
  you'll find out how to send your own.
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  Until next time, thank you so much for listening to the
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  Letterbox podcast, the place where every letter reminds us
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  that we're never as alone as we think.