Stories I know

Class assignments

A struggle everyday

Papers for someone who can barely read

I struggle to find words

For the stories I know

Today

"Write about a historical event

You lived through

How did it change you?"

What do normal kids write about?

Sitting in class

As the planes shattered windows, structure

And their own perfect world?

In Iraq we used say,

"It is hard to be happy,

It is easy to be sad

Simply stated, simply said"

That is just life there

Do I write this for my teacher?

Do I say

We all want Democracy

We all want freedom

But half the people leave

And the other people die

No one can stay and survive

Do I shock and write

About my house being bombed

By our own government?

Or about a bullet

Barely missing my baby brother's head

Because it was aimed at my dad

Who held him in his arms?

I can write about the joy

In the faces on the street

To scared to believe the rumors

The fear that it was another trick

Now, even now our president is dead

And I cannot believe

Now there is democracy in my country

But I am here

I can't struggle with my people

As changes make our country a home

Again.

One day I will go back

I will see the date trees

Growing around the rubble

The blue tiles of home still visible

Beneath the new roots

Will my class understand this?

If I say I am now American

But will always love my home

How can anyone understand

If they have not lived

This life I know exists