if you look back in time
whether near or far
you will see
we are all immigrants
it is a human need
to search for a better home
and be the change it needs

and they escaped the weight of darkness peering over their shoulders
where do these people go,
what belongings do they pack
is there a limit on the heaviness of ones' soul

Can they bring love as parting gift? Hide it in their handkerchiefs, and then go

I was in a geography class,
in a country, my parents immigrated to years ago,
after a war waged,
in my city I never knew about.

My classmates came from the Far East,
and Africa.
Some came from Europe and America.
They were brown, black and white.
They were Muslims, Christians and Jews.
A few were documented,
while the rest weren’t.

My bald teacher was so good.
He was asked to leave his homeland,
after he opposed the government with his writings.
I thought he was so happy after coming here safely by boat,
but I later assumed he was so sad.
He got everything but not a life in his homeland.

We opened the book on a lesson,
called ‘the crises of the world’.
The teacher asked,
where are the crises?
I raised my hands and pointed at the map on the wall,
they are in the East and the West,
in the North and the South.
The crises are everywhere…

-Mohammed Arafat-
19-03-2019

Honor /an inadequacy/

To continue forward despite unimaginable obstacle.
When your children don’t have shoes
And you’ve left everything else behind
When you’re willing to face a new land’s problems in place of your home’s
Because you have nowhere else to go.

A man sits at the edge and stares at the wall
A door closed here, a doorman too tall.
You can’t pass, No reason to be told
But do stay here, the door may open before you grow old.

Restless is this man,
Let me cross this wall, I may already be late
The water is flowing on other side while deserts lay here
Shade of Green trees on other side, the sun burning men here
Storms stay silent here while the breeze sings on other side
Oh. Please let me pass.

Frustrated with silence, Man decides to force his way through
Probably the hammer will break this wall, maybe the keys will open this door
Maybe the tunnels will find their way and the ropes their hold
May the lies convince the doorman, May the ladders make me rise.

He brings his powerful hammer, all his keys and his ropes
Prepares his ladders and tunnels, with lies full of hopes.

The doorman laughs at the man, what makes you so hopeful
You know nothing of other side.
The water flows on other side but maybe drinks are not for you
The trees are indeed green but perhaps shades are not for you
Breeze does sing there but the songs are not for you

Oh mighty doorman, but my heart is set
How can I go back now, the lies have been told
May be there is no hope and no more truths to unfold
May be this wall is the end and its grandness my fold
But I still open my cards, for this beauty mesmerizing my mind
Waiting for me, singing in the trees, drinking my wine….

you can't shake hands and greet people with a smile through a wall.

Sweet Yiddish whispers in my black and white slippers
Delving into daydreams of dark and desperate days
Spilling turpentine on tiles tearing me away for miles
Feeling frantic flutters in the back of my brain
Bearing backlot benches bordering the land of Spain
Roses rowing to Roman seas that no one sees
Leering lullabies of lackadaisical lovers, known to never fly