Existing not in one place

Related to not just one race

Wandering at a changing pace

Poems floating eternally in the problematized space~

The New School, both my alma mater for undergraduate studies as well as where I currently attend graduate school, has a strong focus on refugee studies and development studies. This fall, one of my courses is about refugee studies. Entitled 'Boundaries and Belonging' the class focuses on various aspects of the term refugee; the international framework for systems through which refugees are processed; the events which caused their existence to come about; as well as aspects of national governments that keep refugees out of their national boundaries.

Poems are often written out of strong emotion and also showcase a long journey in a short form. Poems also do not necessarily have an ending, and their beginning can begin from anywhere. As there is no fixed point for stateless people (another category of which I will be studying), there is not necessarily a fixed point for poetry. Poems express emotions and experiences. Emotions and experiences can be hard to trace to their origins Refugees are placed in camps oftentimes far away from their original motherland and are passed through an extensive process before either reaching the destination they set out to go to or even returning back to their homeland yet again. Their starting points and endpoints are in flux. One day the lines of their own poems could be smoother. Other times they could prove to be rougher. In a life that is everchanging, poetry can provide a form of literature that matches the ever-changing mood, well. Poetry offers them a river of thoughts, a flow of consciousness that can reassure them that even though their life is constantly changing, there are words and ways of expression to guide them along the way. 

Poetry, in comparison to literature, is a short but powerful literary form that can definitely help refugees appreciate literature, no matter how short the lines or small the size.