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BooksMarch 13, 2020

The Friday Poem: The Guest House by Mohamed Hassan

Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images

A new poem by Mohamed Hassan. 

 

The Guest House

In this house we

have one rule:

 

                                         bring only what you want to

                             leave behind

 

We open doors

with both hands

passing batons

from death to life

 

Come share with us

this tiny peace

 

We built from broken tongues

and one-way boarding passes

 

From kauri bark

and scholarships

 

From kaitiaki

and kin

 

In this house

we are

                                         all broken

                                         all strange

                                         all guests

 

We are holding

space for you

                                         stranger

                                         friend

 

Come angry

Come dazed

Come hand against your frail

Come open wounded

Come heart between your knees

Come sick and sleepless

Come seeking shelter

Come crawling in your lungs

Come teeth inside your grief

Come shattered peace

Come foreign doubt

Come unrequited sun

Come shaken soil

Come unbearable canyon

Come desperately alone

Come untuned blossom

Come wild and hollow prayer

Come celestial martyr

Come singing doubt

Come swimming to land

Come weep

Come whisper

Come howl into embrace

Come find

                                         a new thread

                                         a gentle light

                                         a glass jar to hold

                                                                    your dust

Come closer

Come in

                                         you are welcome, brother.

 


Listen to Mohamed Hassan’s new podcast series The Guest House, which explores the stages of grief after the Christchurch attacks. Available on RNZiTunes and Spotify.

The Friday Poem is edited by Ashleigh Young. Submissions are welcome at thefridaypoem@gmail.com

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