HOME – Line by Line Summary

HOME – Line by Line Summary

 

no one leaves home unless

Nobody leaves their home without a serious reason.

 

home is the mouth of a shark

Home is dangerous, like a shark ready to attack.

 

you only run for the border

You flee to another country only when forced.

 

when you see the whole city running as well

When everyone around you is escaping danger.

 

your neighbors running faster than you

Even people you know are desperate to leave.

 

breath bloody in their throats

They are injured, scared, and struggling to survive.

 

the boy you went to school with

Someone familiar from your past.

 

who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory

A memory of normal life, innocence, and youth.

 

is holding a gun bigger than his body

Now that person is involved in violence, war.

 

You only leave home

Leaving is not a choice but forced by circumstances.

when home won’t let you stay.

Home has become unsafe and unlivable.

 

no one leaves home unless home chases you

You flee because your home is pushing you out violently.

 

fire under feet

Danger is constant and urgent.

 

hot blood in your belly

Fear and pain are overwhelming.

 

it’s not something you ever thought of doing

You never planned to leave.

 

until the blade burnt threats into your neck

Until you faced direct threats or violence.

 

and even then you carried the anthem under your breath

You still loved your country and hoped to stay.

 

only tearing up your passport in an airport toilets

But finally, you give up and realize there is no going back.

 

sobbing as each mouthful of paper

Tears as you destroy the symbol of your identity.

 

made it clear that you wouldn’t be going back.

You accept your exile and loss.

 

you have to understand,

The poem asks the reader to empathize.

 

that no one puts their children in a boat

No parent willingly risks their child’s life at sea.

 

unless the water is safer than the land

They only flee when the home country is deadlier.

 

no one burns their palms

No one endures pain voluntarily.

 

under trains

Endures dangerous journeys.

 

beneath carriages

No one travels in unsafe, hidden places by choice.

 

no one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck

No one willingly hides in dangerous smuggling conditions.

 

feeding on newspaper unless the miles travelled

Unless the long journey means survival, not adventure.

 

means something more than journey.

It is about escaping death and reaching safety.

 

no one crawls under fences

No one tries to illegally cross borders lightly.

 

no one wants to be beaten

No one seeks violence or humiliation.

pitied

No one wants to be treated as weak or helpless.

 

no one chooses refugee camps

Refugee camps are places people end up in, not by choice.

 

or strip searches where your

Abusive, invasive experiences are forced upon them.

 

body is left aching

The physical and emotional pain of such treatment.

 

or prison,

Even prison is sometimes safer than war zones.

 

because prison is safer

Prison offers protection from violence outside.

 

than a city of fire

Where homes and streets are destroyed by war.

 

and one prison guard

A single person with power can sometimes protect better.

 

in the night

Especially during dangerous times.

 

is better than a truckload

Better than being trapped with dangerous strangers.

 

of men who look like your father

The irony that those threatening can resemble family figures.

 

no one could take it

No one could endure such suffering voluntarily.

 

no one could stomach it

No one’s spirit or body could withstand it.

 

no one skin would be tough enough

No physical or emotional strength could make it easy.

 

the

(Emphasizes the harshness about to be described.)

 

go home blacks

Racist insults faced by refugees and immigrants.

 

refugees

People forced to flee their countries.

 

dirty immigrants

Derogatory terms used by locals.

 

asylum seekers

People requesting protection.

 

sucking our country dry

Accusations blaming refugees for economic problems.

 

niggers with their hands out

Hateful racist language.

they smell strange

Xenophobic claims about “foreignness.”

 

savage

Stereotyping refugees as uncivilized.

 

messed up their country and now they want

Blaming refugees for problems at home and abroad.

 

to mess ours up

Fears refugees will harm the host country.

 

how do the words

The poem questions how people cope with such hatred.

 

the dirty looks

The hostile stares from locals.

 

roll off your backs

How refugees try to ignore or endure prejudice.

 

maybe because the blow is softer

Words hurt less than physical violence.

 

than a limb torn off

Than actual bodily harm.

 

or the words are more tender

Or insults feel less painful.

 

than fourteen men between

Than sexual violence.

 

your legs

A reference to rape and abuse faced by many refugees.

 

or the insults are easier

Insults are easier to endure.

 

to swallow

Than losing everything else.

 

than rubble

Than the destruction of homes.

 

than bone

Than death and loss of family.

 

than your child body

Than trauma suffered by children.

 

in pieces.

The heartbreaking imagery of broken lives.

 

i want to go home,

The deep yearning for safety and normalcy.

 

but home is the mouth of a shark

Home remains dangerous.

 

home is the barrel of the gun

Home is a place of violence.

and no one would leave home

Reiterates that leaving is forced.

 

unless home chased you to the shore

Unless violence pushes you away.

 

unless home told you

Unless home “speaks” through danger.

 

to quicken your legs

Tells you to run fast.

 

leave your clothes behind

To escape immediately.

 

crawl through the desert

Endure hardship on the way.

 

wade through the oceans

Cross dangerous waters.

 

drown

Risk death to survive.

 

save

Fight to live.

 

be hunger

Face hunger and deprivation.

 

beg

Seek help humbly.

 

forget pride

Abandon dignity to survive.

 

your survival is more important

Survival outweighs everything else.

 

no one leaves home until home is a sweaty voice in your ear

The urgent, terrifying call to escape.

 

Saying

Home seems to command you to flee.

 

leave,

Run away now.

 

run away from me now

Escape the place that used to be home.

 

i dont know what i’ve become

Home has changed into something dangerous.

 

but i know that anywhere

Anywhere else is better.

 

is safer than here

Survival depends on leaving.