POEMS FROM THE PAST

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NOSTALGIC MEMORIES FROM THE PAST

My homeland Syria through my five senses

Every morning I have homemade foul and drink coffee with Arabic sweets.

I see a busy marketplace outside my house, where people go to work, and children go to school.

There are beautiful trees and parked cars.

I kiss my mother’s and father’s hand every morning before going to work.

I hear the sounds of water from the pond, the flowers drink this water.

I also hear the sounds of birds singing in my garden.

I smell the scent of flowers from my balcony, beautiful roses, orange carrots, cloves and jasmines.

By Abu Michel

My Chevrolet

I used to have a Chevrolet back in Aleppo. I would sometimes taxi people around in it.

One day a missile from a plane flew down and hit my car.

Thankfully no one was hurt.

But that was the end of my business.

By Abu Michel

HAIKUS FROM HOME

Port Sudan is great.

Small markets, fish, meat and veg.

Hot fish, sweet coffee.

By Sami Mohamed

I took a big bus.

The village has high mountains.

White sheep and black cows.

By Somia

JOURNEYS

My world turned upside down

One day my whole world turned upside down, and from there my crazy life started, because from then everything has been going downwards. There are times when I ended up homeless with no food.

I did not know where to go; we started moving from one place to another. I felt like I lost my mind and moved from one country to another. Everywhere I went I faced crazy people like the police and politicians.

They took me to prisons and detention centres; I travelled through five countries, six police stations, seven detention centres, and eventually I ended up in the United Kingdom.

I didn’t know what to do, even still – to this day – I do not know what I am doing.

By Mohammad Abdallah

PAST AND PRESENT TENSE

What is my name?

What is my name?

Who am I?

Where did I come from?

I was born in the middle of nowhere. Some people call it a village, but I call it a little paradise, because there are so many things and so many places like mountains, forests, rivers and many wild animals and farms.

A lot of fields with different kinds of fruits that belong to no one but belong to everyone around there.

I used to jump in the trees like a little monkey, I was an extremely happy little boy, but suddenly everything blurred and I found myself somewhere – I don’t know where.

Can someone explain to me where I am?

By Mohammad Abdallah

HOPEFUL FUTURE

Earth Poem

There are lots of animals, and above in the sky

there are lots of stars, like the sun.

Earth is where we all live.

Lots and lots of countries and continents.

There are people, cars

in a beautiful downtown.

Lots of angels looking down on us.

There are trees, bees.

Humans are all the same.

By Nagat, 8 years old