Excerpts from “Home” by Warsan Shire, a young British woman of Somali origin.
No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark
you only run for the border when you see the whole city running as well
your neighbors running faster than you
breath bloody in their throats
the boy you went to school with who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory is holding a gun bigger than his body
you only leave home when home won’t let you stay.
you have to understand, that no one puts their children in a boat
unless the water is safer than the land
no one burns their palms under trains beneath carriages
no one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck feeding on newspaper unless the miles traveled means something more than journey.
no one crawls under fences
no one wants to be beaten
pitied
no one could take it
no one could stomach it
no one skin would be tough enough
I want to go home, but home is the mouth of a shark
home is the barrel of the gun
and no one would leave home unless home chased you to the shore
unless home told you to quicken your legs
leave your clothes behind
crawl through the desert
wade through the oceans
drown
save be hunger
beg
forget pride
your survival is more important
No one leaves home until home is a sweaty voice in your ear
saying leave,
run away from me now
I don’t know what I’ve become but I know that anywhere is safer than here.
PROGRAM – “Immigration: How We Can Help in Utah and Beyond” - Brittney Nystrom, Executive Director of Utah ACLU and Sydni Makemo, Southern Utah ACLU Outreach Coordinator
Brittney and Sydni provided updates on the current status of immigration issues on the national and state levels.
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