Khaled Hosseini meets a young Syrian refugee writer
“Now I remember again our house burned and destroyed, And the corpse laid on the ground, And planes flying over our houses, And they bombed civilians and innocent people…Our pains our too many, our wounds are too deep.”
Poems By Ronida*
Ronida is a Syrian refugee, voluntary teacher, poet and writer who Khaled met in Northern Iraq in March 2014. 15 of Ronida’s books of writing were lost in a fire after her house in Syria was destroyed in an attack. She was so thrilled to be meeting with Khaled, a fellow writer, that in anticipation of his visit she wrote several poems to share with him.
Welcome Khaled Hosseini
Our pain and yours are the same
Our country like your country became a country of bloodshed.
Now I remember again our house burned and destroyed
And the corpse laid on the ground
And planes flying over our houses
And they bombed civilians and innocent people.
Our pains our too many, our wounds are too deep.
I am speaking to your from our pains,
These are our pains.
When I sit down, I think, I am a refugee.
But time to time I forget I am a refugee.
When we sat down here I forgot that I was a refugee.
But now I remember that I am a refugee.
Now I remember again that I am a refugee.
I am a refugee.
And the wounds of my heart are open
And the pain inside my heart is growing
And the tears from my eyes are blood,
The blood is coming from my eyes
Tailors come to fix the wounds of my heart
But the wounds were not fixed
Doctors from the world all came to put medicine
On the wounds of my heart
But it was not a solution
But the writer Khaled Hosseini came
And now the wounds of my heart are treated.
My heart arranged a party –
For my heart, inside my heart
And this party and this celebration is a celebration of peace and unity
My people, there will be a day when white doves will fly over Syria.
(*name changed for protection reasons.)
