In our refugee camp

I met this woman
everyday disturbed
clearly sad

She had no name
she had lost her soul

A soul without peace
her peace out of see
she walked and walked
inside the borders of the green land
to turn days into the nights
and nights into the days

The motionless life

The anxious times

She walked and walked
to process her past
to cure the doubt

To settle with the mistrust

She walked and walked
to ease the nostalgic pain
to capture the disruption

She was a woman

Integrity in doubt

Inadequate and less than

She walked and walked
never said “hi” back
to my “hi”
maybe once
maybe twice
only with her lifeless eyes
only with her lips
that barley moved
she was a woman
forced to leave

Inadequate and less than

She was a woman
pushed to the edges of no one

The cross line of confusion

The internalized sense of oppression

She walked and walked

Inside the borders of the green land
she walked and walked
one foot in front of the other

And she told soundless stories
in the miles of remorse
I met this woman
felt her despair
never said “hi” back
maybe once
maybe twice
only with her far reaching eyes
yet she walked and walked
to turn days into the nights
and nights into the days

in the observer eyes
she was hurt
she was a woman
she walked and walked

She lived in our refugee camp

And I never saw her again.

Stockholm 1996
Poran Poregbal

This poem is about a woman who in a refugee camp the mid summer of 1987.