Looking for a home

This poem was written by an Iraqi - I got a paper copy and retyped it here.

In Search for a Home

Displaced Iraqis – a nuisance over and over….

Will we ever have “homes” again?

A “home” that is safe.

A “home” that has electricity.

A “home that has water.

A “home” that we can live in as normal people live in their homes.

A “home” to come back to after a long day’s work.

A “home” in which a family can sit to have a meal together, listen to music, joke about the day’s events – even to fight our little fights in the privacy of our “homes”.

There is a craving in my heart to have a “home” again – but we are not destined to have homes any more.

Twice displaced because of the violence.

Again displaced because of no water or electricity, and the dangerous proximity of a recruitment and training post for police.

Again and again displaced – and regardless of all displacement we fight the good fight to stay on our feet, to work, to provide, to teach our kids not to hate and do our utmost that they should not fall behind in their studies – to give a semblance of normalcy to their lives that have been torn to shreds….

We try hard…..

We do our best….. but our best is not enough.

Maybe I can find a temporary home in a “safe” neighborhood if only someone would point one out to me. To have found a perch sheltered from the winds of violence for a while was good.

How can I forgive….. How can I forget….

But the journey continues, and my search for a home resumes…..

~ Sahar