Ghazal inspired by Persepolis
Journey Home
by Abdurezak Shemsu
Forget the world is on Fire and seek
Take in every desire and seek
For the journey home has always been long
Investigate your soul, enquire, and seek
Take the journey to where the heart and soul meet
Be honest, reflect, ceasefire and seek
Fortify your soul with empathy
Uplift, bring your people higher, and seek
And if you fail to find your way
Forget the struggles prior and seek
For this creative piece I decided to take a stab at writing my own Ghazal. Throughout this course we have seen the political, spiritual, and personal impact that poetry has had on so many nations and individuals and I wanted to experience the process of creating one. For inspiration I looked to the graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. In reviewing the graphic novel, I observed the repeated theme of “identity” and “finding a home”. The book in short is an autobiography of Marjane Satrapi and her search for self and home in the intersection of both an Iranian and Western identity amidst Iran’s troubled political and social past. It is clear that the chief conflict in Satrapi’s story is the tension that comes with Iranian and Western Identity. Satrapi never really feels at home whether she is in Europe of Iran because when she is in Europe she encounters a lot of racism and prejudice and when she is Iran she does not feel free to do what she wants and be who she wants to be (In addition to being accepted). At the end of the graphic novel, Satrapi’s sentiment is that home is neither in Austria nor in Iran and she is forced to ask if Iran will ever be home once again. As a Muslim immigrant, I resonated with Marjane’s struggle. A lot of my life has been filled with the struggle of trying to find the intersection of my American Identity with my Muslim and Ethiopian Identity. In this Ghazal I try to express that struggle.