Poem by Jyhene Kebsi
A wave brought her mother here,
and they see these wretched as “illegal” waves
They say: “criminals.”
The torn ribbon affirms:
Yes,
she will kill you, steal you, murder you
with her toy,
with the few remaining pages of her diary
The diary in which she relates her story
the story of her detained mother
who feared birthing her on a boatThe ribbon’s face saddens
The ribbon tells its story, her hair’s story, the refugee girl’s story
The story of her Iraqi mother who shouted her screams in a poem:
Her mother rubs the dust off me, her daughter’s ribbon
Her mother screams into the wind:
The “illegal” ribbon that scares you has been violated,
molested,
tormented…
Nejia remembers…
how she gave birth to Intidhar…
Displaced babies screamGovernments hate displaced ribbons, loathe displaced toys
Toys smile to political parties
Toys wave to Parliaments
Toys wink at governments
Menacing toys, Unwanted toys, Embarrassing toysOn the mouldy wall,
Intidhar’s mother writes her poetic scream:
Imprisoned ribbons wait, wait, wait
Brecht accompanies them as they wait
They all wait, wait, wait
for Godot
to sort out the asylum lotteryHer hair wants to be free
Her hair wants to fly above the sea
Her hair wants to fly above the wreck of her country
And above those who tan in Coogee
In order to beg for some humanity
***
Jyhene Kebsi is a Lecturer in Gender Studies at Macquarie University. Before coming to Macquarie, Dr. Kebsi worked as a Teaching Fellow in the English Department at the University of Sydney. She also taught at both the University of Western Sydney and Saint Thomas University in the United States. Dr. Kebsi’s research and teaching focus on transnational feminism, globalization, postcolonialism, asylum and world literature. Dr. Kebsi is the recipient of multiple prizes and awards, including Fulbright.