“My Homeland”

Maryam is 14 years old from Afghanistan. Below poem titled “My Homeland” is written by her. The poem explains the pain of her countrymen in Afghanistan. Ismailimail publishes this poem with explicit permission from Maryam’s father, alwaez Habibullah Ismaili.

“My Homeland”

Maryam Habib, Afghanistan

Dare with me,
        Say to me,
My homeland! Where is that? 
How is that? 
They asked me my homeland,
Which land?
I replied unknowingly
"I don't know" surprisingly ! 
They were shocked and screamed,
"How dare you?!" like steamed
"Don't you know where you're from?
   Don't you know your home?" 
I replied unknowingly
"I don't know " surprisingly! 
    Again they screamed and shouted,
They said me bad mouthed!

I whispered to them, 
I'm gonna tell them!

How can I know my homeland?
When I can't even stand!
Do you know where is that? 
Do you know how is that? 

Its dust is of blood,
Its stone is of crack!
There are human ghosts,
There are graveyards! 
Graveyards which you can't count,
Cause there is an amount
You can't find peace over there,
You'll break in pieces there
The war is never over,
There is no war stopper ! 
The people are crying ,
The birds are flying!
Nobody knows what is peace,
  Nobody knows best atleast! 
There's no anthem of LOVE,
If you say, they 'll laugh!
Friendship never exists,
Cause they like it exits!
There's always a strange sound,
The horror sound of sounds!
What you see is tears,
        In eyes when they bear! 
What they wear is sadness,
  And we think it's madness!
What they eat do you know? 
   How can they eat when they're low?
There's always bomb blasting,
  The happiness is never lasting!

If I write more and more,
You'll be bore and bored,
Now you know my homeland? 
  Where is that, how is that?

~Maryam Habib