Debate for Peace

Over the last two months, a dozen students from three continents have been meeting to write and reflect as part of the Writers Matter program. The following piece is part of the “I am from” collection, and comes from Doga in Turkey.

I am from

I am from love and hatred

I am from the thoughts of my own mind,

Thinking “you’ll never be enough”

I am from “leaving!” and “coming back!”,

If you stay, you’re stupid, if you leave, cruel

I am from the answer, self evident 

I am from water and fire,

Trying to balance in this conflict

I am from a life full of contrast,

Hearing “she was way better”

I am from being told to behave well

“Behave yourself, like a woman!”

I am, at times, from scratch and sometimes reminiscence

Running to my future,

But still stuck in my past

I am from learning to let go

Holding on tight is brutal

I am from my own faults,

From imperfectly perfect

Reminding me my humanity

I am from people always judging me,

When all they know is my name

I am from having to hide my emotions,

Thinking i might as well not get hurt

I am from a place where everything is faked

Until it’s made

I am from a plot twist,

Because uncertainty can’t be judged