In an interview after she won the Brunel University African Poetry Prize, Warsan Shire was asked to talk about her sense of commitment to substance and urgent subject matter in her work. No one leaves home until home is a sweaty voice in your ear Messed up their country and now they want No one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truckįeeding on newspaper unless the miles travelled That no one puts their children in a boat Made it clear that you wouldn’t be going back. Only tearing up your passport in an airport toilet It’s not something you ever thought of doingĪnd even then you carried the anthem under
No one leaves home unless home chases you Who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory When you see the whole city running as well It is important that teachers preview the materials, know their students, and build in time and space for individual reflection in journals so that students can respond emotionally to what they are reading and learning. Finally, “Home” alludes to the sexual violence that some refugees face on their journeys. Teachers should read Addressing Dehumanizing Language from History and plan how they approach the "N" word when reading and discussing Shire’s poem. We believe that the best way to prepare to encounter these topics is to create a class contract outlining guidelines for a respectful, reflective classroom discussion. Please note that this poem includes language and topics that require special consideration from the teacher and students. Commentators have noted that “Home” has touched a nerve among people, that it has offered a way to give voice to refugees and to provide some authentic understanding of the crisis. “Home” has been shared widely across the media and has been read in a range of public spaces, including London’s Trafalgar Square. This poem became the basis for “Home,” printed below. In an interview, she told the reporter that “The night before she visited, a young Somali had jumped to his death off the roof.” The encounter, she says, opened her eyes to the harsh reality of living as an undocumented refugee in Europe: “I wrote the poem for them, for my family and for anyone who has experienced or lived around grief and trauma in that way.” 1 Shire wrote “Conversations about home (at a deportation centre)” in 2009, a piece inspired by a visit she made to the abandoned Somali Embassy in Rome which some young refugees had turned into their home. In 2013-2014, she was the Young Poet Laureate for London. She is a poet, writer, editor and teacher. Warsan Shire was born in Kenya to Somali parents and lives in London.
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