By Yohana Tekeste
I was born in a desert
In which I grew up with false hope
Eyes red, heart always aching
Free classes opportunities zero
I tried to look to those who were before
No change I could see
Mind so big, thinking so small
Too much air, couldn’t breathe any more
Tired of missions without aim
The struggle took my father’s leg and my future, too
My illness can kill if I don't leave!
Can this be crime to save my prime?
Seeking for a place which I cannot even name
Asking for asylum, it was not for food
More a hunger for freedom leading to peace
Was it my fault for leaving home?
ቤተይ ገዲፈ
ብ ዮሃና ተከስተ
ተወሊደ ኣብ ምድረ በዳ
ዓብየ ብናይ ሓሶት ተስፋ
ወግሐ ጸብሐ ዓይነይ እናቀይሐ
ብዘይእብረ ልበይ እናተሰብረ
ሕልምታተይ ደረት ኣልቦ
ዕድላተይ እናተራብሐ ብባዶ
እንተራእኽዎም ቅድመይ ዝነበሩ
ራኢኦም ጸልሚቱ መለሳ ዘይብሉ
ኣእምርኦም ሰፊሕ ቅንጥብጣብ ዝሓስቡ
ኣየር ብብዝሑ ትንፋሶም ተዓፊኑ
ምንባር ሓርቢትዎም ተስፋ ዝሰኣኑ
ተልእኾ ኣድኪሙኒ ዕላማ ዘይብሉ
ቃልሲ ደኣ ናይ ኣቦይ እንድኣሉ
እግሩ ዝወሰደ መጻእየይ መንጢሉ
ጓሂ'ዶ ደኣ ክቀትለኒ እንታይ ኣለኒ ዕዳ
ንሕልመይ ምብካየይ ገበን ኮይኑ ግዳ
ስሙ'ኳ ዘይፈለጦ እንትርፎ ክርእዮ
ስደት ዓዲ ጓና መኣስ ተመንየዮ
ዝብላዕ ስኢነ'ዶ ዑቅባ ሓቲተዮም
ሕልናይ'ዩ ጠምዩ ናጽነት ምስ ሰላም
ዓደይ ብምግዳፈይ ኮይነ ድየ ጠላም፧
Yohana Tekeste was born and raised in Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea. She had a very happy childhood and a strong connection to her father. He raised her to be a girl with dreams and good work ethics. She is the second child of a family of all girls. Her father is everything to her; still today, he is her personal hero. Yohana graduated from college of arts and social science in 2015. She holds a degree of Eritrean language and literature, having had an interest in literature since her childhood and finding a big relief and enjoyment in this field. Currently, she lives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She resides there as a refugee and it has been almost four years now since she came to Ethiopia. She loves writing poems, in which she finds a way to expresses her real feelings. If you are interested in following her work, she also has a Telegram channel to share her poetry: https://t.me/joinchat/AAAAAETYkXFypqLn4j8cLQ.
