WRITTEN BY Sirin Bekdash, translated by Mary Rizzo
Refugees #1
“How old are you? You look very young.”
She smiles at me in a way that it seems she has not gotten love for years, “24, 4 of these are my children. My husband has gone to a better world.”
Her eyes are green, they are not deep, but they sparkle. They say that suffering becomes light in the eyes of those who have tried it, I’ve just seen proof of that.
Refugees #2
“Take off your hood so I can fit you with this sweatshirt.”
“But my hair is a mess.”
“Well what does it matter now, it’s not important.”
“Then how should I expect to get married? I’m at the right age for it… I have to look good, I could put on my best clothes, but they fell into the sea already 3 times and the suitcase is soaking wet. I’ve been rescued each time, but the gel gets lost…”
“Don’t worry, girls like tussled hair. Tell me, is there anything else you need?”
“Yes, how many years separate us in age?”
But his was that innocent kind of questioning that is the sweetest thing that exists in the world.
Refugees #3
I learned in a week of life more than I have 3 years. You don’t learn about history by reading what’s in the newspapers, but in the eyes of the people, they have the power of incinerating paper.
Refugees #4
I stroked her fragile legs, I forced a hug, I placed a sweater over her shoulders.
I gave her a chocolate but she did not close her fist and it fell to the ground.
I asked her to choose a toy but with a chilling stare, her mouth dirty or maybe even wounded, in short, crusted, she looked beyond.
“Are you hungry little one?” She did not answer.
“Are you cold?” She did not answer.
“Are you afraid?” She lowered her gaze.
Can I die of fright in her place?
Please God
Refugees #5
This sounds terribly selfish I know, but I need those refugees more than they need me. I depend on them much more than they depend on me.
Refugees #6
There are those who wonder how you fall asleep without love, tonight I ask myself only how fall asleep in a station.
Refugees #7
Certain phrases on the walls touch my soul.
“No human being is illegal”
Refugees #8
An elderly woman with a scarred face. I do not know why, I just know that I look at you and I think that the more valuable a vase is, the more noticeable its scars will be.
Refugees #9
Slender, a back broken from 120 days of travel, 2 children in tow.
It makes me think of bamboo plants, incredibly thin trunks that are able to be tall and resilient, it leaves an impression on me.
Refugees #10
A “shukran” uttered by you has the power of reconciling myself with the world.
Refugees #11
They arrived at their destination, refugees do not put limits on Divine Providence.
Refugees #12
My mother has never had to scold me or spank me, she would tell me something was not to be done and I did not do it.
But these myopic laws…no, you cannot respect them. Mine is not an invitation to disorder but a call to demand those rights that even we one day might need.
Refugees # 13
“I’ve been travelling for two months, may daughter and I. The two of us alone.”
I prayed so that my mother would not die, she is not sick , she’s fine alhamdulillah. Then I cried silently for such a sad prayer.
Refugees #14
“What’s your name habibty?”
“Salam”
Nomen Omen, what the ancients said in Latin; your name is an omen, your destiny.
Refugees #15
I’ll reveal a work that combines mysticism and action: helping others.
Refugees #16
Probably the pages of history books will not give testimony to all the blood that Arabs have offered for free. But no matter, liber scriptus proferetur, in quo totum continetur. “A written book will be brought forth, in which everything shall be contained.”
Refugees #17
“It’s all because of that Tunisian Bouazizi! Is it not true that it’s only his fault that all this has happened? I just wanted to live in safety and before there was safety.”
I was clamping my hands over my ears until they began to hurt. It’s a lie, an atrocious lie. But with what courage can I say that to those who have lost everything in war?
Refugees #18
It took only a little to give me euphoria and just as little to make me sad, a goodbye. When you talk of fingerprints I seem to see you running with ankle weights. When you talk of Sweden you seem like a sunflower that stands proud and tries to get close to the sun.
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