Flesh when mutilated called God

Flesh when mutilated called God By Yousif M. Qasmiyeh, University of Oxford and Refugee Hosts Writer in Residence Time is God’s journey to his shadow. An incomplete sentence is the place. In the non-occurrence of birth, aborting the camp becomes the only possibility. Might the dialects be the place that will be? The hole is…

A daily rhythm inside which time can grow…

This piece continues a series of poetic responses to photographs taken by Refugee Hosts PI Dr Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh during a field-trip to Baddawi refugee camp and the neighbourhood of Jebel al-Baddawi in North Lebanon, and to a range of neighbourhoods in Beirut in March-April 2018. Written by Refugee Hosts Writer-in-Residence Yousif M. Qasmiyeh and/or PI Dr Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh,…

Erasure

This is the first in a series of poetic responses to photographs taken by Refugee Hosts PI Dr Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh during a field-trip to Baddawi refugee camp and the neighbourhood of Jebel al-Baddawi in North Lebanon, and to a range of neighbourhoods in Beirut in March-April 2018. Written by Refugee Hosts Writer-in-Residence Yousif M. Qasmiyeh and/or PI Dr…

Name

Name by Frances Timberlake, Refugee Women's Centre The name lands on the pavement slapped down like spilt water A person a body a name tumbling from this young boy's mouth like spilt water Like a splash from the Black Sea waters the man drowned in four months ago as the young boy sat watching with the…

A Sudden Utterance is the Stranger

A Sudden Utterance is the Stranger By Yousif M. Qasmiyeh, University of Oxford Listen here (read by Y. M. Qasmiyeh):  I The moon is the birthmark of the refugee. His birth equates to the mauling of his entire body. Nothing is anomalous about the wound. While waiting, we bite our nails and flesh. Once I…