Can you lend me your home?
Aryan Ashory
-A conversation through poetry-
Where is my home?
Can you lend me your home?
homes are for sharing
And take me down from this dark ceiling
remembering is a putting together
Leaving thousands of memories behind
Applying for asylum waiting in line
Walking for hours through forest
asylum is a holding place
Carrying your whole life on a boat
Escape from homeland
Leaving your fatherland
separation is division, a tearing apart
It seems to be dangerous
Not because it’s just you that starts this journey
But because thousands of others
Have died
and dying is an end point
Have lost their beloved
Have lost their newborn babies
Have lost hope
Have lost the meaning of life
More than anything, have lost themselves
between waves of sea
among big trees
To the ups and down of hills
With strange sounds of running down
To the scary light of border guards
a guard is there to watch over, protect
The darkness starts
It looks at its start like many other darknesses
darkness is the absence of light
Sleeping in the forest doesn’t shine your morning
Either you have a jacket or not
Spending your day in the forest till the night comes
Doesn’t give you the feeling of home
a forest without shelter is a dungeon,
a home without a hearth
Yeah you might not be in a war
You might not be in an explosion
But you are in a fight with your heart
You are struggling with your inner self
You are blaming yourself
protecting the self is essential to being
Home is not what I have experienced
Home is not what I have been through during these years of my life in European countries
Home is not sleeping in the park
Home is not passing your days and nights homeless
Home is not having nowhere
Home is where you have safety and a roof over your head
every physical structure requires a roof and a base
That when it rains you will not be wet
That when you’re in pain, you’re surrounded by this shelter
I came to your country
I have asked for shelter
I thought I could try to make a home for my family
But don’t you think it’s a long process?
time is immeasurable when progress is indefinite
I have escaped wars, I managed to save my future
But waiting for years inside a tent which is covered with fences is going to make me disappointed
Not for what I become
But because the world thinks I deserve a tent for years and years
Far from facilities
Far from town
Far from the sight of Europeans
And far from the sight of humanity
collective is a cooperative exercise
I have applied for asylum
I have turned away my life
I have tried to start my life from zero
But waiting for ages makes me feel like giving up
despair is an absence of hope
I don’t know if I should I run away and stop living, stop breathing
Because,
Where I am now is not home for me
I want to feel, to understand, what home really means
awareness is the power of comprehension
tolerance is a moving towards
belonging.
Where is my home?
Can you lend me your home?
homes are for sharing
And take me down from this dark ceiling
remembering is a putting together
Leaving thousands of memories behind
Applying for asylum waiting in line
Walking for hours through forest
asylum is a holding place
Carrying your whole life on a boat
Escape from homeland
Leaving your fatherland
separation is division, a tearing apart
It seems to be dangerous
Not because it’s just you that starts this journey
But because thousands of others
Have died
and dying is an end point
Have lost their beloved
Have lost their newborn babies
Have lost hope
Have lost the meaning of life
More than anything, have lost themselves
between waves of sea
among big trees
To the ups and down of hills
With strange sounds of running down
To the scary light of border guards
a guard is there to watch over, protect
The darkness starts
It looks at its start like many other darknesses
darkness is the absence of light
Sleeping in the forest doesn’t shine your morning
Either you have a jacket or not
Spending your day in the forest till the night comes
Doesn’t give you the feeling of home
a forest without shelter is a dungeon,
a home without a hearth
Yeah you might not be in a war
You might not be in an explosion
But you are in a fight with your heart
You are struggling with your inner self
You are blaming yourself
protecting the self is essential to being
Home is not what I have experienced
Home is not what I have been through during these years of my life in European countries
Home is not sleeping in the park
Home is not passing your days and nights homeless
Home is not having nowhere
Home is where you have safety and a roof over your head
every physical structure requires a roof and a base
That when it rains you will not be wet
That when you’re in pain, you’re surrounded by this shelter
I came to your country
I have asked for shelter
I thought I could try to make a home for my family
But don’t you think it’s a long process?
time is immeasurable when progress is indefinite
I have escaped wars, I managed to save my future
But waiting for years inside a tent which is covered with fences is going to make me disappointed
Not for what I become
But because the world thinks I deserve a tent for years and years
Far from facilities
Far from town
Far from the sight of Europeans
And far from the sight of humanity
collective is a cooperative exercise
I have applied for asylum
I have turned away my life
I have tried to start my life from zero
But waiting for ages makes me feel like giving up
despair is an absence of hope
I don’t know if I should I run away and stop living, stop breathing
Because,
Where I am now is not home for me
I want to feel, to understand, what home really means
awareness is the power of comprehension
tolerance is a moving towards
belonging.
Aryan Ashory is an 18-year-old Afghan poet, filmmaker, human right activist and journalist. Her poems are in four languages: Dari, English, Greek and Deutsch. Aryan volunteers with a Greek organisation as a Dari and handcrafts teacher and has made 5 short and documentary films. She was in charge of a women's space teaching handcrafts and English beginner classes, and has joined Athens Democracy Forum as a reporter in 2019 where she focuses on the voice of young people. Twitter: @AryanAshory
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