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I wake from my nightmare
The sun shines
Through the small window
At the top of the room
I stretch
My arms
My legs
I stand up
My body aches
From the hard mattress
On our concrete floor
Mother?
Nahla?
I say
No response
I hear a whimper
A pause
Then another
I slowly walk to the tiny kitchen
Mother and Sister Nahla
Sit at our small wooden table
Father built
She cries
And screams
Into her hands
What is wrong?
I ask
Sister Nahla says,
I'm sorry Ajani
It wasn't a dream
I stare
At the silent walls
Of our shack
Father...
Gone...
Dead....
No
No
No
No
This can't be true
Can't be real
My world slowly
Shuts down
On my numb body
He is gone
And never coming back
W-w-why? What happened?
I utter
Through the numb pain
And tears
Covering my heart
Sister Nahla
Nods
A no
My nightmare
Was now a reality
Just like everything else
In this cruel
Cruel
Place
This is not home
Home is with father
Mother
And sister
Safe
And
Sound
He is gone...
Forever gone...
YOU ARE READING
The Journey Home
PoetryIn this strikingly touching poem journal, follow the journey of a young afghan refugee, Ajani. As time passes in Kabul, Afghanistan, the capital and the city which she was born and raised in, she struggles to find serenity for her and her family. Th...