Poem – Refugee by JJ Bola

This poem highlights the importance of schools becoming safe, respectful and responsive communities for new refugee students – a safe place for them to land.

You can listen to the poem if you prefer. Or why not read and listen at the same time?

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Transcript

NARRATOR
Imagine how it feels to be chased out of home. To have your grip ripped. Loosened from your fingertips something you so dearly held on to. Like a lover’s hand that slips when pulled away you are always reaching. I remember when we first stepped off the plane. Everything was foreign. Unfamiliar. Uninviting. Even the air in my lungs left me short of breath. We came here to find refuge. They called us refugees, so we hid ourselves in their language until we sounded just like them. I remember one day I heard them say to me. They come here to take our jobs. They need to go back to where they came from. Not knowing that I was one of the ones who came. I told them that a refugee is simply Someone who is trying to make a home. So next time when you go home, tuck your children in and kiss your families goodnight, be glad that the monsters never came for you. In their suits and ties. Never came for you. In the newspapers with the media lies. Never came for you. That you are not despised. And know that deep inside the hearts of each and every one of us we are all always reaching for a place that we can call home.
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Imagine how it feels to be chased out of home. To have your grip ripped. Loosened from your fingertips something you so dearly held on to. Like a lover’s hand that slips when pulled away you are always reaching. I remember when we first stepped off the plane. Everything was foreign. Unfamiliar. Uninviting. Even the air in my lungs left me short of breath. We came here to find refuge. They called us refugees, so we hid ourselves in their language until we sounded just like them. I remember one day I heard them say to me. They come here to take our jobs. They need to go back to where they came from. Not knowing that I was one of the ones who came. I told them that a refugee is simply Someone who is trying to make a home. So next time when you go home, tuck your children in and kiss your families goodnight, be glad that the monsters never came for you. In their suits and ties. Never came for you. In the newspapers with the media lies. Never came for you. That you are not despised. And know that deep inside the hearts of each and every one of us we are all always reaching for a place that we can call home.

 

These audio poems are a great resource to use in class.

 

As you work through this unit, keep in mind the themes in this poem and the importance of making schools places of welcome and sanctuary, especially at times when students and their families may be facing various types of hostility in the wider community.

Introduction

Preparing a Safe Place to Land