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