Poor said:
When winter comes
Death comes
Cold house
No electricity
No fuel
No warm clothes
No food
No chance to work
On the street
Streets filled with slush, mud
Where should we work?
When winter comes
Sickness comes
No kind doctor
No free clinics
No good medicine
In the pharmacy
An expired drug
Waiting for me
Where should we recover?
By Freshta
Photo: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images
A person doesn’t have much, if they don’t have their health. Your words point out that everyone needs food, shelter, clothing, AND healthcare. Nicely written.
Freshta — This is a strong poem. The repetition of “no” works well to get across the dire conditions of the poor in winter. “No” is also what the poor are told over and over again. Nice work.
“Where should we recover,” an interesting use of structure. Sometimes translation inhances a piece of writing, allows for a new way to look at, even the most dire, circumstances. I wish to lift you up in the way that your poetry lifts me up.
I keep you in my thoughts my poet/friend.
This poem reminded me of when my Afghan woman friend and I went to my senator’s office to request that they help deliver hundreds of winter jackets my friend had collected in the U.S. — very warm clothing for your very cold climate. No one would help her ship the jackets there. She has asked so many people, and none have been able to do this. She will probably sell them and donate the money instead.
To the poet Freshta: keep writing! Your words reach us all the way across oceans.
I agree with Catherine, health is the center of life. This poem is the center of my heart. Your words are the center of my consciousness. Your words reach us because they are the road to basic living, which sometimes is denied! Thank you and indeed, you are a beautiful poet. I send warmth, peace, love and joy!
This is a beautiful poem; thank you.
These words find us, give us insight into a world ever so far away.
We have so much and I am humbled by your words of stone.
Beautifully written. Bless you.
Poetry express this reality beautifully. Thank you for sharing, and reminding us all!
Your poem would ring true for survivors of the regime in North Korea and so many other places. You are responding as any normal person would under the kind of stress that you are experiencing. You are not alone.