A poem by Parwana Amiri.

Parwana is an author, poet and activist from Afghanistan who is living in Greece since September 2019. Her poetry may seem softly written, but it contains hidden stories and bitter truths. With her work, she challenges the power of art and poetry to convey these bitter truths of the times. This poem was written to show the strength of refugees in each step, from beginning of their journey, to the moment they get recognized and after. From the first border they pass, till last shelter they receive, this poem speaks about the difficulties they face with descrimination and more.

Illustration by  Alexandra Nikolova (Ål Nik).

Finding the light is hard when there is darkness all around us. We, as humans, are holding these little lights that can guide us to continue finding the way, to be breaking the silence, to prove our peace… Left in the darkness, our lights seem small – it is so hard for them to give us enough light. But we are many and we will keep trying. We are just like the stars in the sky.

How easy you…………….we

 How easy you left us behind

How hard we continued the way

How easy you faded our lives

How hard we stayed displayed

How easy you suffocated our voices

How hard we broke the silence

How easy you called us danger

How hard we proved our peace

How easy you counted our deaths

How hard we lost our beloved ones

How easy you called us terrorists

How hard we live with terror

How easy you left us in darknesses

How hard we found lights for our way

How easy you thought us most greedy 

How hard we proved being simply refugees

How easy you hid and trapped us

How hard we lived your hells and prisons

How easy you left us in the past

How hard we struggle with present

How easy you sleep in sweet dreams

How hard we live in nightmares

How easy you threaten to divide us

How hard we prove being united

How easy you burned our dreams

How hard we draw new dreams

How easy you left us in prison

How hard we must break the chains

 03/05/2020