MSF Kabul Hospital ~ May 12th, 2020
Shukria Rezaei
Born into a strange world
after the dark in the womb.
In my mother’s arm, wrapped warmly in her shawl
my little hand curls around her pinky finger.
I feel her soft breath blow on my hand.
I was just born. O hear me.
My mother smiles through her exhaustion
the other mothers groaning in labour,
their pain echoing through the rooms.
When the gunmen came in.
I was just born. O hear me.
There are bullet holes on the walls
on my mother’s womb.
He hung his death veil over my almond eyes,
and over my ears that had not yet heard the Azan.
I am Hazara. O hear me.
after the dark in the womb.
In my mother’s arm, wrapped warmly in her shawl
my little hand curls around her pinky finger.
I feel her soft breath blow on my hand.
I was just born. O hear me.
My mother smiles through her exhaustion
the other mothers groaning in labour,
their pain echoing through the rooms.
When the gunmen came in.
I was just born. O hear me.
There are bullet holes on the walls
on my mother’s womb.
He hung his death veil over my almond eyes,
and over my ears that had not yet heard the Azan.
I am Hazara. O hear me.
Shukria Rezaei is a Hazara from Afghanistan. She has been living in the UK since 2011, from the age of 14. She studied for her GCSEs and A-Levels in the UK during which she began her writing journey as well. Her poems primarily focus on her refugee journey and the plight of her Hazara people. She has been featured on BBC Radio and Channel Four and published in various other anthologies and online media. She has just completed her masters degree in human rights and politics and wishes to go into the field of NGOs and Humanitarian organisations.
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