no one leaves home until home is a sweaty voice in your ear saying –
leave, run away from me now, i dont know what i’ve become but i know that anywhere is safer then here
Warsan Shire’s ‘Home’ has become a kind of anthem for refugees fleeing war. But where to? The word ‘refugee’ comes from the French ‘refugier’ to take shelter or protect, as in refuge or place of safety. It’s an arriving word, not a leaving word, a beginning, not an end.
Children at Ballyroan library have been using IBBY’s Silent Books Exhibition www.ibbyireland.com to explore beginnings. In this week’s Nation Creation workshop they founded new, ideal countries, complete with laws, language, flags and folk tales. Amid the fun there was a lot of sense too. Guns are banned on Shiba Island and Justin Bieber songs on Aishin. Amberdisia has rich amber deposits to be used for healing, and heavy penalties for cruelty to animals. On Manji, internet use is limited and refugees are welcomed. Wonderful!