Maryam’s memories

Maryam’s memories

It is the only chance

Playing with your life

Giving up

You are left over

There is no reason to be alive

You’re there blinded by a red light then locked up in a cage

Making you go to a new world Your life has been destroyed

Blood in you heart

Now you’re there

Coming out of the plane

Everyone is staring at you

With your arms folded

Taking you to another, newer cage

Feeding you.

Waking up every day and doing the same thing

Giving up

No more chances

Everything that you have been waiting for is dead

Killing people in front of your eyes

Blood and tears It is time for you to go

But no one cares

Because their heart is dead

And everyone have given up

About the author

Maryam a talented 12-year-old Iranian girl became the first asylum seeker to win the Upper Primary category in the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards, the oldest and largest poetry competition for school-aged children in Australia. Her piece “Me” profoundly questions life. Maryam Sathat Sobhani has only been learning English for two years, but her rapid grasp of the language led to an emotionally powerful poem that won over the judges. Maryam and her parents spent time on Christmas Island, Manus Island and then in Darwin detention before being released into the community in Melbourne where she is flourishing at school.

Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards presentation 2014 | PHOTOS, VIDEOS

From Iran with love – young asylum seeker claims Mackellar prize