Abstract
Poetry can fulfill different purposes—it can be therapeutic, a testimony, or a rebellious expression of injustice. This article presents a thematic found poem exploration, of six Afghan female migrants, aged 19 to 24. They arrived in Sweden between 2013 and 2016. I have translated the interviews verbatim from Dari to Swedish and finally into English. The following poems reflect a period of my participants’ lives related to the complexity of uprootedness, nostalgia, and their struggles of in-betweenness and belonging. In addition, it also reflects their hope, aspirations, and commitments of remaking home and rebuilding life.
SIMA 1
WE
2
HAVE NOT BEEN RAISED WITH RESPECT BUT FEAR IF I DO NOT PRAY TO GOD I MAY END UP IN HELL I LOVE AFGHAN CLOTHES WHICH I CAN’T WEAR OUTSIDE MY HOME IN SWEDEN I MUST BE INTEGRATED EVEN THOUGH THERE IS LIBERTY ESPECIALLY FOR WOMEN MY BROTHER I’M STILL AFRAID OF HIM I DON’T WANT TO WEAR A VEIL MY BROTHER HE COULD NOT ACCEPT IT WHEN I’M AT SCHOOL I FEEL LIKE AN OUTSIDER HOW SHOULD I EXPLAIN TO MY MOTHER THAT I NO LONGER WANT TO WEAR A VEIL
SORAYA
IN THE BEGINNING WE LIVED TOGETHER WITH MY BROTHER HE DIDN’T ALLOW US TO GO OUT SOMETIMES HE LOCKED THE DOOR TO OUR ROOM MY SISTER’S FEET COMPLETELY BLACK BECAUSE OF HER BAD BLOOD CIRCULATION MY BROTHER HE WANTED TO PROTECT US I UNDERSTAND HIM WITHOUT HIM WE WOULD SURVIVE THE RUN
SORAYA
I HAVE SEEN THE ELDERLY GET SHOT I HAVE SEEN YOUNG MEN DYING OF THIRST DURING THE RUN MY SISTER AND MY BROTHER WALKED HAND IN HAND WE WEREN’T APART FROM EACH OTHER FOR MORE THAN A FEW MINUTES WE HAD HEARD LONELY GIRLS ON THE RUN COULD BE ROBBED ROBBED AND RAPED
SELDA
MIXED FEELINGS OF COMING TO SWEDEN I HAD LEFT MY HOMELAND FAMILY AND I HAD BROUGHT WITH ME MY FROZEN MEMORIES RAGE DOUBT
SINE
THE SKY HAD OPENED UP I FELL STRAIGHT DOWN TO AN INCOMPREHENSIBLE WORLD I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT SWEDEN THE PEOPLE THE CITY LONELINESS DEPRESSION A PSYCHOLOGIST SHE TRIED A LOT TO HEAL ME MEDICATION NOTHING HELPED I WAS STUCK IN A MOMENT WHAT HELPED ME ABOVE ALL WAS TIME
SORAYA
WHEN YOU ARE ON THE RUN YOU ONLY THINK ABOUT YOURSELF ABOUT SURVIVAL SURVIVING THE RUN ONCE YOU ARRIVE IN SWEDEN AND EVERYTHING BECOMES EASIER YOU START REFLECTING BACK MEMORIES PEOPLE YOU HAVE LEFT BEHIND PEOPLE YOU LOVE IN SOME WAY I WAS MORE THERE WITH MY FAMILY THEN I WAS HERE IN SWEDEN
FERESTHE
LOSS DISCONNECTED DISPLACEMENT I WROTE POEMS NOT IN MY MOTHER TONGUE I WROTE IN SWEDISH I WANTED PEOPLE TO RECOGNIZE WHAT I WENT THROUGH SUICIDAL PICTURING MY PARENTS I HAD TO GO ON I HAVE TO LIVE THE MOVIE ABOUT MY LIFE MUST NOT HAVE A SAD ENDING IT MUST HAVE A DIFFERENT END
SINE
WHEN YOU ARRIVE IN SWEDEN YOU FEEL VERY ALONE LONELIEST PERSON IN THE WORLD NO ONE CAN UNDERSTAND YOU I ALMOST DREAMED SOMEONE WAS TALKING TO ME I USED TO FANTASIZE BACK TO MY LIFE IN AFGHANISTAN LONGED FOR THOSE PLACES INCOMPLETE IDENTITY A PSYCHOLOGIST I TALKED TO HER SHE JUST LISTENED I WANTED HER TO TALK TO ME AT THE ACCOMMODATION A RESIDENT STAFF MEMBER AND I WE WENT FOR WALKS EVERY EVENING THOSE WALKS MEANT EVERYTHING TO ME
MARYAM
I WAS HAPPY THAT WE ALL WERE TOGETHER IN SWEDEN MY SISTER AND MY BROTHER GAVE ME STRENGTH I ALSO REMEMBER ME AND MY SISTER WERE WORRIED ABOUT MY BROTHERS ASYLUM APPLICATION WE DIDN’T KNOW IF HE WOULD GET A RESIDENCE PERMIT OR NOT SOMETIMES I SAT ALONE I CRIED FOR HIM I PRAYED TO GOD I READ THE QURAN WE ALL FINALLY GOT THE DECISION ME AND MY SISTER GOT A RESIDENCE PERMIT BUT NOT MY BROTHER
SELDA
IN THE EVENINGS I SAT DOWN AND WROTE I WROTE A LOT WHEN I FELT LONELY SOME EVENINGS I FELT THAT I HAD NO MEANING OR CONNECTION TO ANYONE THEN I USED TO WRITE I WROTE DOWN EVERYTHING INSIDE ME IT HELPED EVEN TODAY WHEN I FEEL SAD OR MAYBE HAPPY I WRITE
MARYAM
I NEVER HAD A FATHER MY BIGGEST DREAM ONE DAY I VISIT MY FATHER’S GRAVE MY MOTHER SHE LIVE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD A LONELY WOMEN SHE RAISED US ALL BY HERSELF WE SHOULD BE WITH HER POWERLESSNESS I DREAM AT NIGHT ONE DAY I SIT IN A CAR MY MOTHER IS BESIDE ME I DRIVE HER AROUND
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
The author thanks the young female who participated in the research and was willing to share her stories with him. He also expresses gratitude to Clara Flygare and Lisa Wallin for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Stiftelsen Allmänna Barnhuset (grant no. 2018-245).
