no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark.
you only run for the border
when you see the whole city
running as well
your neighbors running faster than you
breath bloody in their throats
the boy you went to school with
who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory
Is holding a gun bigger than his body,
you only leave home
when home won’t let you stay.
no one would leave home unless home
chased you, fire under feet,
hot blood in your belly.
—Warsan Shire, from “Home,” 2017
