Twelve (١٢) definitions of home in the mouth of a refugee

by Abdulbasit Oluwanishola

a journalist asks a man what a home means,

it only takes a minute before the cloud hovers in the man’s eyes.

 

home is my father’s forehead—a fruitful site for a bullet to rest, before my birth. ١

home is a day-old-child nurturing dyspnea at birth. ٢

home is the unripe fruits sickled from their comfort room—tree. ٣

home is Al-Shati Camp—an origin of children of 1992. ٤

home is just the number of hours the sea flows before turning into a blood sink. ٥

home is the picture of people searching for their relatives amidst massacres. ٦

home is a mother called to identify her star amongst the shooted stars. ٧

home is the hive of the bees stinging others with no remorse. ٨

home is a marabou stork stocking  the carrions of another city in his belly. ٩

home is the face flaming when preceding s to other’s laughter. ١٠

home is the boy who cultivates hope in the lines of  his palm. ١١

home is my grandfather’s pharynx resurrecting memories. ١٢

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