Sara Abuawadeh

They thought it was over,
for them it was bad.
Being beaten and tortured,
hope was all they had.

Their labor fields were cages,
their very few rights were limited.
Even though they didn’t like it, 
complaining was prohibited.

Her arms and shins were purple as plums,
her head aching, she cried.
But maybe she can do something,
she hasn’t yet tried.

She lay on her bed of stone,
closed her eyes and smiled . . .

They thought it was over,
for them, it was bad.
Being beaten and tortured,
hope was all they had.

But, what if it wasn’t,
what if there was more?
She glanced at her children,
laying on the floor.

Something sparked inside her mind,
and she finally saw the truth . . . 

They might not have much,
but they have something special.
They have love for each other,
and that’s more than essential.

She crouched down near her kids,
and kissed them all goodnight.
Because she knows one day things will change,
one day it’ll be alright.

A Slave’s Hope Is Not All

Anonymous

Small Ant
I am
With my family of Ants
My Ant village thriving

But now it is gone
The Happy Ant Village
The Thriving Ant Village
It’s all gone

Huge Men
30 feet tall
Fighting right in my village
They stomped on my friends
I have no one
But my family

The conflict grows
To where you are not even safe in your anthill
Forced to flee
From anthill to anthill
With nothing but a few items
And little-to-no food

The journey is finally over
But my Ant family and I have nothing
People belittle me
I am not familiar with how things work
We need help
But no one helps
We need to learn
But no one teaches us

They think of us as a heavy burden
But we won’t be if
You teach us
And allow us to learn
How this new and unfamiliar place
Works

The Little Ant, I Am

She didn’t know what was coming
I know now
She didn’t want to go through it
I now know the benefit
She cried day and night
I smile now, through the strife
She felt alone
I can relate
She felt hopeles
I can see the light
The light in the darkness
The darkness of my life
Because you see,
She and I are one and the same
We share the same experience
We share the same name
We even share the same tattoo engraved in our brain
The one that gets us through every day
Those small black words reminding us of how we were saved

She and I

ADHD
too short
below average
mental torture

Self-destroyer
can’t ignore the paranoia

Anxiety inside of me
my pulse is racing
mind destruction

No motivation
no hope
not good enough
no matter what
can’t do enough
not as good as them

Falling down the void of sadness
they can’t leave
we can’t leave

Waiting to erupt
Self-doubt
Self-awareness

Sadness

sitting on my bed, I wonder in my head
when will I eat
every day I go to school
stomach grumbling
feeling beat
I see children crying
people dying
I know my Lord will help me
but for now
I rely on myself
growing ill
having a will for food and water
someday my land will be restored
because my lord will help me

Refugee

You say you need me 
You fall on your knees
All you need is to say please

You need to apologize
For all the pain you caused me 
I think I should take the plea

I’m numb to the feeling 
No one can fix me now
Everything you do just seems to make it worse 
Makes me feel like I should bow out

You can’t even hold on to me without making a sour face
What did I do?
You’re the one who started this race 
I should just stop this chase
And leave you be

I have a feeling that you hate me
All you needed was to apologize
For the pain you caused me

And I’ll be there for you
Like you never were for me

You kept on leaving
Without saying goodbye

I still hear that song with my demise
My heart is aching
Please stop breaking

I guess this was our fate
And here it lies

The Need for Never

Tears run down your cheeks
You wish your life was better
You sit alone when you eat
Because no one wants to be near you

Could it be your skin tone?
Your eye color?
The way you speak or dress?
How you long for a friend
One who will have your back
And give you comfort when no one else can

Other kids laugh
While you cry
You do everything alone
You hide your face when spoken to
So as not to be seen as a baby

Your clothes don’t compare to theirs
You sit on the floor
With no hope
But there is

Don’t be afraid
Because everyone faces this
You have friends all over the world
And all over the world,
Boys and girls are left out

So don’t hide your face
Don’t cry
Because you are not a baby
You're perfect just the way you are

Wait, no you’re not
Because no one is perfect

Talk to someone if you don’t feel right
Someone you love

Your clothes don’t compare to theirs
And that’s okay
Speak up
Show yourself
And show everyone how special you are

So any time you feel alone
Remember
You have friends around the world

Loneliness

Happiness, happiness
Love and compassion
Is all that I have felt
And what I hope to feel
Without it I
Wouldn’t be who I am today
Feelings are like wool on a sheep
What I feel is a warm and joyous feeling
That protects me like a guardian
That progresses my life further beyond the imaginable
And possible throughout the universe there will be
Love and compassion is
Everywhere I go
And what I hope to become

Hope

The skies are dull without you
The clouds are a turbulent grey
Since the day you decided to leave me
I ask, why would you go away?

Some days fly by
Sometimes I catch myself, time
Like the keeper he is
Not a second out of hand
Not a second for you, or for me, or for us
It feels like I'm losing my mind

It would be ok, it should be ok
But how will it, if I’m over there
And you are nowhere

Like a butterfly spreading its wings
Like a flower sprouting its first petal
You made everything blossom
You are forever mine

A breath of fresh spring air
A breezy morning filled with dew
You are forever mine
And you didn’t even have a clue

But the stars will glimmer
The moon will fill with Laughter
And the Sunsets shall forever bear
That beautiful smile
As you get your happily ever after

One day the sky will shine
Like your eyes on an autumn night
And you will know that I am yours,
And you are forever mine

Forever and Always Mine

Sign my cast! They sign with a sharpie
The black ink spreads across my arm
To form a perfect signature
Iiza your car is here
I rush in with all my gear

Next day school repeats
A third-grade day, not much to say
Sign my cast! They sign with a sharpie
The black ink spreads across my arm 
To form a perfect signature
Iiza your car is here
I rush in with all my gear

Next day school repeats
A third-grade day, not much to say
Sign my cast! They sign to form an almost perfect signature, but instead, it ends up scribbled
all over my arm
“We have to go”
I remember that line coming from my mother like no others before
My ears ring
I tell myself I know, but my 8-year-old brain likes to shield me from the truth
My mother shoves everything to the side and takes the back entrance,
“Get in the car, your father is waiting”
I know, I know I tell myself, 
I’m not going to ask any questions, I tell myself
The thoughts replay in my mind over and over
All I can say is that I am blinded,
Hidden from grief
I know, I know,
I rush in my seat
I rush in as if my feet are falling off
I rush like the rapid, non-stop beat that is inside me
Why?
I know
No Questions

Cancer

Iman Padder

My name is my identity.
I have faith in me
I have faith in my integrity
I have faith in my pleas.

My clothing is my identity
My long shirts and black leggings are me.
I’m not a celebrity.
Don’t confine me, because I am free.

My religion is my identity.
Don’t shame me because I fast.
You do not have authenticity
And I will not be harassed.

My family is my identity.
My brothers and parents are me.
I will love them for eternity.
Our family tree will grow on and on, that is a guarantee.

My ethnicity is my identity.
I bring the sunrise of Bosnia and the sunset of Kashmir
To the Maryland shores.
I get no serenity from my ethnicity.
My parents have fought too many wars.

My school is my identity.
From five to 11 my school has stood near.
We are an entity
Of girls who stand tall and have authority.
They may sneer, but we cheer.

My hobbies are my identity.
My wings fly like a butterfly as my hands
Dive with each stroke.
I feel free when my right hand lifts up and 
Strikes the ball.
When I stand in front of a crowd and start
To speak, pupils become awake.

My community is my identity.
Some refugees and some native.
All lives are at a different intensity.
We are all creative.

My Identity Is Me

Zaara Ismailjee

I will never know how they feel
They may be my age, but they have been through the unthinkable
Some are forced to leave their home countries
Some leave alone, they leave everything they have found comfort in
Some are unjustly killed, removed from life without permission
I will never know how they feel, as they are ripped from their loved ones
I will never know their heartbreak
As they are a part of the global refugee crisis

I Will Never Know

Sakeena Nooruddin

The warming, blazing flame blows
The heat feels like a hug from behind
The shape of the fire is rich, as smooth as it flows
The smell of the crackling, burning wood
Fills my nose with this smell of hope
The color, vivid and rich
Brings me to a peaceful calm state
Fire is like a person
The more you add, the more it grows
The difference will show.

Flame

Jibreel Ismailjee

Men, women, children
None will be spared
Cramming things in a bag
Not knowing how they’ll fare
They hug their loved ones
Hoping for a better future
Yet shaking in fear
Of the invaders in their home
Holding all they hold dear
A young child,
Who will never again know his childhood home,
Will go to another country
Knowing their neighborhood is gone.

All They Hold Dear

Mana Hamedi

I hear the baby wailing.
My patience slowly fading.
Can’t wait till I meet her.
Been waiting 10 years to see her.
I can’t wait any longer.
Barge into the room, looking stronger,
Keeping back my tears.
Finally, seeing her after all these years.

Baby Sister

Noor Matalkah

I slowly walk on the sidewalk
And begin to count my every step
2,3,4 as I look up
And start scanning the sky in depth
It’s exceptionally painted blue
Without a single glimpse of a cloud in sight
And as I start to feel each fierce sunray hit my skin
I can’t help but forget the agony and consider how this just feels so right

But my awaited delight is interrupted by a strange rumble
Unfamiliar and unknown, I look around to search
Just to find nothing as the sound of the roaring grumble
Grows, grows, and grows.

And just like that, I start to reminisce.
Remember that one test you took?
All of the studying you did just to get a C+
But as resentful as you were, you were too scared to make a fuss
So you just sat there, soaking in all of your disappointment
Like an overfilled sponge on the verge of exploding.

What about every time you’ve tried to fit in?
You downgraded yourself just for all the others
But deep inside your heart you know it's wrong
and that's something you’re still struggling to discover.

And the things you wish you never said?
The mistakes, the times you thought you sounded weird, or the rude remarks
That you wish you could take back, so you try to leave them locked up in the dark
But no matter how hard you try, you can’t let them go.

You’re now standing there, frozen
While each dreary, downhearted cloud appears
Quicker than you’ve ever imagined
So you run, going at a speed faster than any marathon winner could ever aspire to.

But those thoughts are still glued to your mind
No room for air nor any place that feels less than confined
So you have no other option but to carry on.

Each thing that you wish you could change
Each demoting moment that makes your heart plummet
Each thing recirculates your mind nonstop.

What about your family?
You miss them terribly but these days, we’ve all been busy
Busy with work, busy with our own lives
And you just miss the times when you would have conversations you thought would never end.

What about the people who have to go through hardship every single day?
“Be grateful,” we should say because
people are being killed just for the color of their skin

What about the people who would give their whole life for a spoonfull of food?
We struggle to fast
But no food for weeks is what they’re used to

This is the world we live in
This is the world that orbits through my head with no end
The clouds are absorbing all of the color from the sky
And now, I can no longer depend on racing them with all of my strength.

I just can’t understand
What is going on with us?
What is going on with me?
Why is this happening to us?
Why is this happening to me?
What is wrong with us?
What is wrong with me?

I finally decide to stop.
Just for a moment of ease
But before I get to feel anything at all, I feel a drop on my forehead
Along with a rustling breeze.
A drop turns to two,
And three turns to four.
And before I know it,
Rain starts to heavily pour.
I slowly walk on the sidewalk
And begin to count my every step
2,3,4 except this time
Instead of looking up, I decided to just accept.

Reminisce

Lena Abuhadba

At the bottom
The people of color lay
They laid at the bottom of the Titanic where their doom awaits
They lay on the floor where the knee of a cop clenches their neck so hard they can’t breathe! They can’t breathe!
They lay not being able to breath, yelling for help while dozens of people watched helplessly. They lay on the floor after being shot for walking around in their neighborhood, calmly

People are not pleased with how they look, people are not pleased with their pride in their look. People are not pleased but do we need them to be?

At the bottom
The people of cultures shame
They shame for being made fun of when they brought their cultural food in for delay
They get looked at strangely for the things they do or wear or for how they look or how they eat or how their family looks or for how they act. Oh and there is more, 
Starting to shame?

They get the jobs that are jerked aside for “people like them” to face, Starting to shame?

They get looked down on by arrogant people who believe that their life is more important than the people around them, 
But is it?

Instead of being called by their names they get called by racial slurs 

At the bottom
The refugees look
They look for a place they can call home
But when they go to find “home” they find unwelcoming gome
They look for a sphere to hide fear
But every time they close their eyes they find unwanted memories of gear
They look for a hobby to distract them from their lost mommy
But all they can think about is what will happen next and if they will ever find their mommy

At the top
The people of wealth stand
They stand with the mindset that they are better than anyone else here
But are they?

They stand with the many privileges that other people don’t have
They stant with no problems at all

But why,
Why are some people privileged and others are not?

But why,
Why is it that just because of the way that people look we judge them without even knowing them?

Injustice

I support free speech
I just don’t see it as a justification
to spit hate at Muslims
to come near their mosques holding signs
of misinformation

I support free speech
I just don’t understand
how it can only be used against Muslims

I support free speech
but why are second graders understanding respect
and kindness
more than you

I support free speech
I just wish you would use it to clear your misconceptions
and ask before you hate

You see,
anytime I watch the news
I’m battered by your racist views calling all Muslims terrorists
got no one but yourself to amuse
and it’s funny how most of it is fake
or staged
or flat out untrue
just looking for an excuse to exploit Muslim countries like you always do

You pride yourself on democracy
but look at your hypocrisy
your hands are covered in the blood of those you colonized
and the oh the audacity
to display the skulls of victims in places like Musee de l’Homme

You pride yourself on being righteous
but oh what serenity
beyond any Geneva Convention
you torture emotionally and physically over a war crime for one houryou commit war crimes for 20 years
over 3,000 of your people dead
but you kill one million and counting
a third of them civilians
who had nothing to do with anything
but of course
you make sure to dry your hands before any press conference
but of course
you wash the reputation of Muslims with the leftovers in your dirty sink
Is the water red because of them?
or is the water reflecting your actions?

I support free speech
but I’ll keep my mouth closed
Though I know that the truth can no longer stay disclosed
I’m not trying to justify the deaths of innocent civilians
I’m just sorry that you thought that I would carry every wrong
of two billion!

I Support Free Speech

Fatima Roebuck

The wind wistfully whisks through the trees
Sounds of leaves crunching under your feet
What if we’ve mistaken the sounds of the breeze
How about the blazing heat

The water is higher when it meets the shore
Drizzling of rain against the glass
Soon this can’t be something we can ignore
It’s too late for this to pass

The vast sky fills with large gray clouds
Roaring of thunder in the sky
What if we’re mistaken, these aren’t just sounds
What if this is mother nature’s cry

The desert tornadoes spread dust across the land
Polar bears desperately search for ice
It’s easy to misinterpret, but not hard to understand
Earth isn’t oil, it doesn’t have a price

So again, why is it so hard for us to see
We’re the source of the blazing heat
The unusual temperature of the sea
It’s all too much to repeat

The earth has given us countless signs to untangle
So why do we tighten the knot
These aren’t just sounds, this is mother nature’s cry

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