National Poetry Day

On National Poetry Day, we remember oppressed peoples worldwide to whom poetry is of huge importance -- a way of preserving languages that are all too often banned, expressing thoughts, longings, emotions, political resistance and much more. In the words of the Rohingya poet, Ro Mehrooz: "By using my own language, I try to reconnect with memories of home, identity and history of my Rohingya community. I write to illustrate the ongoing hardships and struggles of my people. My primary objective is to document my language, literature and culture as a form of resistance against their disappearance, so that these words can be passed down to the next generation."

NO, I DON’T HAVE A HOME OR THE STRENGTH TO SPEAK

[Extract]
Even with eyes, we were blind. Even with a mouth, we were silent.
They washed our brains with illiteracy. What else is to be washed? What?

Root-cut, severed, forced to dry out in the sun.
So much we have suffered. What else is there to suffer? What?

No moon, no stars. What else is there? What?
Is there any light in my life? What can I see? What?

No space underfoot. No strength to speak. What do I have to say, what?
When no-one listens, who do I speak to? What would I say, what?

from
Poems Written Through Barbed-wire Fences by Ro Mehrooz (bilingual edition),
translated from the Rohingya by the poet and James Byrne,
forthcoming 1 November 2024