11 Jul Mikayla Stanley
Mikayla Stanley, a participant in the Dadaab Theater Project, shares a poem.
We performed in Kangemi
A slum
With an audience of 50 smiling,hopeful children
Quiet as the mice that probably occupied the field we danced in.
The field that looked as close to eden as anything ive ever seen.
The word refugee was an illusion.
The word American was an illusion.
All that was real were the games that we played together until the stars came out and it was time to go home.
My heart oh my heart
We performed in Nairobi
At world refugee day
With an audience of thousands
Who are paid to care about what we are saying
And they only looked at us with blank, tired faces.
(but hey. We at least finished our piece. That wasn’t true of the other refugee group that got booted half way through their show about not being listened to)
The word refugee was palpable
And was sold to us on t shirts.
What was real that day was the inevitability that our time together was coming to a close.
My heart oh my heart