The first thing i saw...
The first thing I saw in Boise was the washing machine. I thought that it was a cooker or a fridge, but later, I asked someone I was living with and he told me, it is a washing machine. I wondered what that was. I saw him using it to wash his clothes. So the first thing I did was to call my family to tell them in Boise there's a washing machine that washes and dries everything within three hours.
-- Ernest, Uganda
The first thing I saw in Boise was snow. I just got down and touched it. It was very beautiful.
-- Christina, Pakistan
-- Ernest, Uganda
The first thing I saw in Boise was snow. I just got down and touched it. It was very beautiful.
-- Christina, Pakistan
What's Worth Saving
A Collaborative Poem
The way my baby says, Da, da, da, da
Spice beef smell of korma
the color of snow
my daughter's red wedding dress
God
Friendship
the sound of the ocean
the yellow red of every sunset
when it rains outside
the race of wind in the trees
the quiet of a lamb
quiet footsteps of an elephant
the raining color of the sky
the innocence of animals
the memory of my girlfriend's voice
the sound of a lion, when he cries the walls begin to shake,
when he cries it sounds like thunder.
Spice beef smell of korma
the color of snow
my daughter's red wedding dress
God
Friendship
the sound of the ocean
the yellow red of every sunset
when it rains outside
the race of wind in the trees
the quiet of a lamb
quiet footsteps of an elephant
the raining color of the sky
the innocence of animals
the memory of my girlfriend's voice
the sound of a lion, when he cries the walls begin to shake,
when he cries it sounds like thunder.
My name
by kyaw, burma
My name is Kyaw Pah.
In my language, my first name means to jump or flying over the sky.
My last name means small frog.
I am the color green.
My name sounds like a hurricane
blowing over the trees,
blowing through the clouds.
It is the number six,
in the middle,
not a high number,
not a low number.
I was named after my father,
my whole family gave me the name.
When I was born,
they saw me and told me my name.
Kyaw Pah.
And I believed them.
In my language, my first name means to jump or flying over the sky.
My last name means small frog.
I am the color green.
My name sounds like a hurricane
blowing over the trees,
blowing through the clouds.
It is the number six,
in the middle,
not a high number,
not a low number.
I was named after my father,
my whole family gave me the name.
When I was born,
they saw me and told me my name.
Kyaw Pah.
And I believed them.
Writing through emotions
by kumar, nepal
Sadness
Red like blood, like
the Royal Massacre in Nepal,
red across all of the doorways,
and flowing on the ground.
It happens when I think
about that night in Nepal.
It sounds like people crying,
like the sound of weapons,
like glass breaking,
like the buildings coming apart.
It smells like flesh, like smoke, like gunfire.
Sadness.
Red like blood, like
the Royal Massacre in Nepal,
red across all of the doorways,
and flowing on the ground.
It happens when I think
about that night in Nepal.
It sounds like people crying,
like the sound of weapons,
like glass breaking,
like the buildings coming apart.
It smells like flesh, like smoke, like gunfire.
Sadness.
Where i'm from
by mon, nepal
I am from not remembering where I was born,
from growing up in the refugee camp,
a place like a small box,
a place that always sounded like birds quarreling,
from dreaming of a different place,
from mountains shaped like the letter M,
green spring leaves,
and red poppy flowers.
from growing up in the refugee camp,
a place like a small box,
a place that always sounded like birds quarreling,
from dreaming of a different place,
from mountains shaped like the letter M,
green spring leaves,
and red poppy flowers.
i can call back
by liban, somalia
I can call back camels,
tall as trees,
long necks,
and backs shaped like mountains.
I can call back Kakuma Camp, small,
filled with trees, green like lemons.
I can call back the small trees and how
they smelled like perfume.
I can call back the camp called Kakuma
with its hot sun, like fire, burning my neck and ears.
I can call back the mountains in Kenya,
just like the mountains in Idaho.
tall as trees,
long necks,
and backs shaped like mountains.
I can call back Kakuma Camp, small,
filled with trees, green like lemons.
I can call back the small trees and how
they smelled like perfume.
I can call back the camp called Kakuma
with its hot sun, like fire, burning my neck and ears.
I can call back the mountains in Kenya,
just like the mountains in Idaho.
