Parwana Amiri 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.
Lots of young people are suffering from addiction in the camp where she lives. Their passion gets wasted as they lose their desire to live and stay active in these limited spaces. Some people in the camp are addicted to alcohol, some to games and others to hashish. Drugs are easily to access in the local town.
Parwana witnesses their situation everyday, sinking deeper into addiction. Often, they are looking for a way to hide away and hide from themselves. This poem is Parwana’s expression of what she has witnessed.
Photography by Neda Torabi (Ritsona Camp, Greece)
In my photography, you will find the hidden heart of power of the artist. I reflect the unrecovered photos in a style to show the depth of my pain and reflect the power of self expression.
Keep me drugged
When my pains nail me down
The ropes you tied hold me tight
Nothing is bright, not a single light
Is found in my dismal, scary night
These pains engulf me high
There hasn’t been a light in my night
.
Inject me, make these pains sleep inside
Let my mind rest on this pillow
Wet with my tears, every night
Let me sleep day and night, without light
Inject more drugs, they kill my pains
Let them run in my veins, quiet me down
Don’t ask me to stay strong, under such pains
.
Turn off the artificial lights, don’t cheat me
Draw the curtains, the sun harms my eyes
Can’t find hope, neither here, nor there
I searched for it everywhere, but it is hidden
.
Call me …
Call me damaged, addict, cursed
Don’t you know why it is so?
Call me prisoner, held in a self-constructed cage
Don’t you know why it is so?
.
Cry for me, pray for me …No!!
Stop mourning, I can still breathe
If you want me back, stand behind me
Give me back my name, my hopes
Those hopes can bring me back to life
Don’t avert your eyes, look at me!
I am that lulled mind in a young body
.
The ink of your pens smack of our blood
When you sign the contracts, stamping our lives
Look at the blood streaming from your mouths
Admit your repeated promises were but lies
Shout it loud and clear, confess your past crimes
.
I’m feeling these pains, so deep
In my bones, in my skin, in my soul
The pains that wound my heart–
uncertainty, inequality, injustice,
repression, suppression, humiliation
.
Your silence overwhelms me
My mind is crowded yet alert, intentional
Against your heartless indifference
I will escape this addiction ………