Mother Tongue Poem by Sahra AlShamiry

My mother's tongue is a stubborn but beautiful dancer
Refuses to wrap itself around English words, so the strong Arab accent sits heavily in her mouth when she speaks.
Fifteen years later, all six of her children speak English
Which sounds like a dream come true
Until we learnt the cost of adopting a home that does not accept us.
That the only colours we know, are those of red, white and blue.
How this part of the world has a good way of staining you
Making you forget your own skin, so much so, you don't even recognise your own reflection anymore.
Our language was to be deported so that we would forget where we came from.
But I guess I should be ashamed of myself
Because I can rant all day about how tyranny turned my country into turmoil
I can tell you which areas were affected the most.
How most families now live under the poverty line
But I wasn't there.
I wasn't there to see the first drone fall
I can't tell you what it's like not to leave your house out of constant fear.
Because I have no idea.
But these are the side effects of immigration
To belong nowhere.
Yesterday I shed my British passport to pieces
Then found blood on my hands
But am I really that surprised?
Knowing full well the foundations this country was built upon
I don't know where home is…
I can't tell you that
I can't put it into a poem for your snaps and applause
But I can tell you what it's like being a foreigner in your own skin.