My Dream Homecoming

Saturday, 01 January 2011 02:28 Selam Kidane

Dream

Homecoming

Tell the still evening

To borrow some sound

Crickets …and …frogs

Chorusing loud in harmony

Tell the clouds to give way

To the vast sky’s velvet glory

Tell the stars to shine brighter

Tell the candles to burn longer

For I am coming home tonight

Expecting a stranded visitor

Tell my friends to wait

On street corners till dark

Tell the moon to be full tonight

Tell the trees to stretch their shadows

Tell the owls to keep their nightly watch

Tell the watchmen to light some roaring fire

Tell my grandmother to say an extra prayer

Tell my mother to delay the evening coffee

Tell my sisters to save me some dinner…

Tell my brothers to not lock the outer gates

Tell the logs to keep burning a bit longer

I am coming home tonight…

Just like last night

And the night before

I am coming home tonight

Just as I will tomorrow night

I am coming home again

Comments

0 #20 sam a 2011-01-06 03:24

Great job Salem and keep up the good work.

-14 #19 YAY 2011-01-05 18:17

Dear Selam, Yosief, Dembelas, Berhane GN, Yemane J, and others: Where is your dream home, or identity: evolving "Eritrea" , "Eritrea liberated by Ethiopia", or "...."?
Do you expect Erritra to be your ready-made dream home?
"Eritrea's claim to be special starts with its history. In colonial days, Eritrea was never a part of Ethiopia. Whereas the Ethiopians... escaped colonial rule... Eritrea was in the first half of this century an outpost of the Italian empire. Not until 1952 was Eritrea handed over by the British... to Ethiopia; .... Besides spaghetti and cappuccino, Italy bequeathed to Eritreans a sense of national identity which has only been strengthened by their forced cohabitation with Ethiopia. Eritrea's independence will not draw new borders, but return the country to its shape of 40 years ago. [....]
Not every would-be secessionist should be encouraged to follow Eritrea. But it is time for Africans to bury a taboo." (economist.com, January 05, 2011)

-1 #18 samuel teare 2011-01-05 14:11

selam kidane i love your poem
you are amazing woman and i am proud to know you are
a beautiful Eritrean woman.
God bless our people.

selam happy new year for you and your family.

+1 #17 w62 2011-01-04 06:17

Rodab, I give you a credit for understanding/admitting that there is a serious problem with the GoE. But you are against violence if it comes to regime change in Eritrea. Let me ask you a question: Lets say you are seriously sick and that you need to see a doctor. Poor you, the doctor recomands to open your stomach in order to save your life. Now, would you say no because you are afraid that you might day in the process? The doctor and you understand that you are going to die any way, if you don't get treatment to your disease.

0 #16 ose 2011-01-04 05:29

what a lovely poem gual hauboy

-7 #15 rodab 2011-01-04 00:20

Part - A

According to the unscientific polls we have here, my New Year's wishes list was not received warmly and I suspect my second wish (a wish against violence on GoE) was what some people didn't like - I am just guessing because I don't see why anyone would dislike the other wishes. By the way, on my first wish, I hoped for more women because women, I think, have better judgements than men when it comes to politics such as they are more civil in debates, and are likely for peaceful struggle. Isn't that right Selam?

-11 #14 rodab 2011-01-04 00:19

Part - B

So concerning the use of violence to remove PIA, I am firmly against it because I believe it will bring more harm than good. Yes violence could sometimes work specially if it is to drive foreign occupiers out, but it does't work well on civil conflicts. If for example, one feels the current government of Ethiopia is serving its people better than the previous ones, then in that case violence may have born fruit - but then I haven't put into consideration the huge prices it consumed and wheather it was worth it.

-9 #13 rodab 2011-01-04 00:18

Part - C

One thing I like to know from the hardliners is, they will have to tell us what happens next if their government-came-thru-force doesn't deliver? At least two or three generations have to pass for Eritreans to see a meaninglfully different politics. Currently, it is unlikely that any government in Eritea would be much different than the current one because, first of all, all the players inside and outside the country are Tegadeltys (EPLF / ELF).

-3 #12 rodab 2011-01-04 00:18

Part - D

Even though these people accomplished a great deal in making independece reality, and it is a great gift to all Eritreans (I know I am getting on someone's nerve but I don't mind), they do things in a similar way, their mindset is similar if not identical when it comes to administration. Secondly, there is no government institiutional structure right now and any one who comes to power would be just another PIA with no public access, no opposition, no scrutny, no independent media, no nothing - in short it would function the same way the GoE is functioning. So the questions is what would you do then? Do you call for a fresh violence or do you say 'hmmm, it didn't work..let's try a different way this time'?
WedeHankum.

-4 #11 Aklil 2011-01-03 18:13

Superb!

+1 #10 Awetina 2011-01-03 08:51

For us,Eritreans,wh o have lost "home",this poem means alot.The legendary Yemane has put it in this way.Food,clothing,h ousing........without of the elements that give sense to it are tasteless.Your poem made me cry for i was felt with the nostalgia of "home".May the Good Lord hear our prayers and help us entering our "home". Happy new year to you,Selam.

+1 #9 Hawileyto 2011-01-02 22:00

Selam! What a lovely Poem. We all hope It will be the end of the PIA era & finally return and enjoy the country we love most. God bless you - The people are all behind you. Happy New Year!!

-16 #8 rodab 2011-01-02 16:20

My wishes for the new year:

- I wish Selam & all other writers would continue to be active & I wish more Eritreans specially women come out and get involved in the political life of their country.

- I wish all compatriots become responsible citizens & stop calling for violence against the GoE.

- I wish the acts of the governmet is closely scrutnized & the peaceful political struggle is strengthened.

- I wish Asmarino.com increase staff size and improve the quality & quantity of information.

- I wish opposition websites stop attacking at each other and direct their attention to the challenges and solutions the nation faces.

Happy New Year to all.

0 #7 selam kidane 2011-01-02 14:39

thans for the kind remarks Yemane, Berhane GN and YG and everyone...happy 2011 to all of us...
...praying for a better 2011...

+5 #6 Yemane Johar 2011-01-02 03:12

Dear: Selam thanks for this beautifully composed poem! Our home is built of the indispensible soul called “truth”. That is our soul food and we live and breathe it. This home is within us and it is a replica of the home we left behind way before the era of "hadas Eritrea”. Our strength, wisdom and resilience emanates from it. That is our citadel where the truth settles and cascade. I better die in this home of ours than longing to dwell in that home of “hadas Eritrea” that has lost its normalcy beyond recognition. But that does not stop me from dreaming of our true home, our citadel because my hope is full of optimism that one day our dream will come true!
God bless you ma’ dear sister! I am fond of your talent and wisdom!! Keep hammering…

+5 #5 Berhane G Negus 2011-01-01 23:47

Selam
What a beautiful poem. YG said it all.
May God bless you and your family for the love and all what you do for our country.
Happy New Year

0 #4 Dembelas 2011-01-01 23:34

Homecoming

Thoughts of homecoming turned reality,
Disturbing...
Occupied by the same question non stop...
Where is my home?
Do I claim a home the residents have rejected?
What do I tell that little boy
At the stadium entrance talking to me
In eagerness we both understand...
What's my role in his fate if I am not selfish...
Tell me who is invited to my homecoming...
Or shall I choose an escape from reality
And invite my siblings from the grave.

+22 #3 yg 2011-01-01 22:57

To the Home that we lost

Dear Selam,

Thanks for the beautiful poem appropriate for the new year. It is a wish that all of us can easily identify with, even those who are in complete denial – even those who are visiting Eritrea every year. For “homecoming” is not simply the physical act of going home; rather, it is a confluence of so many things that are not possible in today’s Eritrea – as you have beautifully put it.

If there are no more friends “to wait on the streets till dark”, scattered as they are in the four corners of the world, and if there are no more sisters “to save you some dinner” and no more brothers to open the gates for you, sequestered as they are in national service, then homecoming becomes an illusion even to those who visit Eritrea. If the people inside Eritrea are so burdened, subdued and saddened by the turn of events that they cannot look up in the sky, then there won’t be any bright stars under the Eritrea sky waiting for any “homecoming”. Thus, Selam’s poem is not simply a nostalgia for home because she cannot go there – as some are interpreting it – but a painful reminder to the home we have all lost.

Taken in this broader sense, homecoming is not simply going back, but also bringing back all the elements that used to make a normal home – not only your dear ones (sisters, brothers, mother, grandmother, etc) but also the elements (the sky, the stars, the burning logs, the candle, etc). Even the crickets and frogs have to cooperate with you to make a full home out of a place. And it is all this and more that Selam says with her poem.

Thanks again, Selam, and Happy New Year!

YG

-3 #2 Fessehaye 2011-01-01 19:13

Dear Selam :

GET REAL !

If are far from the reality. Wishful thinking with out working together in solving our problem, will take us no where and going home will remain as a dream.
-Instead of working hard on bringing Eritreans together, if we work to bring the people on east of Africa .
-Instead of united forces against the regime, if we work in disunited them
- if we work relentelesly in attacking forces working against the regime.
Then when do you think we will go HOME ?

HAPPY NEW YEAR Every body !

-2 #1 happy new year 2011-01-01 08:21

happy new year Selam. but what a wishful thinking. 30 years of bloodshed, two decades of 'indipendence', we are still dreaming of home coming, or should i say hallucinating. new year the same dream, but Eritrea still remains a PIA in the sky. ..a delicate PIA we don't want to temper with just in case it falls and some 'others' pick it up...

Refresh comments list
RSS feed for comments to this post.

Add comment

JComments

Google Search Asmarino English Pages

Asmarino

News & Press Releases

Eritrean Charity to Extend Assistance to Victims of Trafficking

(London 17th May 2013) Release Eritrea is to extend its support to victims of trafficking through two projects in Egypt and Israel respectively. The projects which have been funded for three years starting this month will build on the work that was carried out over the last two years enabling local staff and volunteers to provide relevant services as identified by those already engaged in the field.

Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change (EYSC) Launches New Television Program: EYSC TV

EYSC (15-05-2013): The Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change - Global Group - announced today the launch of its new television program, EYSC TV.

The television program, which will air twice a month beginning on Wednesday May 22nd at 7:33 PM Berlin time, covers over half a million households in the Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and Darmstadt areas in Germany and will be accessible world-wide at the same time via YouTube or via the distribution links of the TV studio. EYSC ensures interested viewers that it will publish the programme simultaneously to the TV broadcast on EYSC Facebook and in YouTube.

DEMONSTRATION FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE IN ERITREA

Date: 24 May 2013- Time: 2:00PM – 6:00PM -Venue: in Front of 10 Downing Street

The Coordinating Committee representing the different exiled opposition political and civil society organizations in London calls on all Eritreans and the friends of Eritrea to participate in the Pro-democracy Peaceful Demonstration.

ENDF Mourns Former Colleague and Compatriot, Amare Gebremariam

It is with deep sadness that the Coordination Committee of the Eritrean National Democratic Forces (ENDF) learned the passing away on 12 May 2013 of compatriot Amare Gebremariam at the age of 70.

The late Amare Gebremariam was one of the founding members of ENDF which he served also for one year as its active vice-chairman actively supporting the ENDF chairman, Diplomat Humad Kullu.

With Robocalls, Eritrean Exiles Organize Passive Resistance

From his perch in California, Sium tries to stay politically connected to his country. He marches when there's a local demonstration, contributes to refugee causes and posts on Facebook.

But there's always one thing missing. The people inside Eritrea don't dare to "like" his Facebook posts. And they never march in the streets themselves. For Eritrean activists living abroad, this silence can be frustrating.

So Sium had an idea: If we can't ask them to come out, what if we ask them to stay home?

African Heads of States Challenged About Human Trafficking in the Sinai

Sharing her experience and expertise in the struggle against human trafficking in the region was Ms Meron Estifanos, Eritrean human rights activist and journalist with the diaspora based Radio Erena. In a moving presentation focusing on the narrative of a young victim of trafficking who died leaving her toddler son, in the hands of her abductors; Meron challenged every head of state present to respond to the plight of countless victims and address this shameful issue taking place in the region.

In his own presentation President Omer Hassan al-Bashir admitted that the concern is indeed a grave one that requires urgent attention. For his part president Paul Kagame also made a personal commitment to highlighting this concern at the UN Security Council, over the coming few months.

Israeli Supreme Court: "exceptional humanitarian reason" for release under the Anti-Infiltration Law

We are happy to report that the Supreme Court accepted our appeal against a verdict issued in a lower instance court that rejected the Hotline for Migrant Workers' request to release an asylum seeker who survived the torture camps in Sinai from the Saharonim internment camp. The outrageous lower instance ruling by Judge Eliyahu Bitan stated that severe torture cannot be considered as an "exceptional humanitarian reason" for release under the Anti-Infiltration Law. All asylum seekers who have entered Israel since June 2012 have been jailed under this draconian law according to which asylum seekers can be released only in exceptional circumstances including "exceptional humanitarian" cases. ...

Eritrea supports Egypt’s position over Nile water dispute

April 18, 2013 (ADDIS ABABA) – The Eritrean government said this week that it supports Egypt’s stance over a colonial-era treaty that granted Egypt a right to utilise the lions share of Nile river’s water resources.

The Red Sea nation expressed its support in a message sent from the Eritrean president and delivered to Egypt’s president by Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh and Presidential Adviser for Political Affairs, Yemane Gebreab.

The Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, has highly welcomed Eritrea’s position towards Egypt’s "historic rights" over the sharing of the water of the Nile River.

Eritrea accused of sending arms to Seleka rebels, says CAR ex-President Bozize

Allegations have surfaced this week against the government of Eritrea regarding their role in the in arming the rebels in the Central African Republic who recently overthrew Francois Bozize.

In an interview with ex-President Bozize recently ran in the media, the former CAR leader claimed that "the arms used by the Seleka rebels during their final assault on the presidential palace were purchased from Eritrea and transited through Chad with the permission of President Deby"

The Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs this week issued a strong denial.

(Photo: Seleka rebels believed to be armed by Eritrea)

UN expert to assess human rights situation in Eritrea

Banjul, 11 April 2013 – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea, Beedwantee Keetharuth, today regretted that the Eritrean Government continues to deny her access to assess the situation of human rights in the country, and announced she will undertake a mission to neighbouring countries to talk to Eritrean refugees.

“I have urged the Eritrean authorities to cooperate with my mandate, as required by the UN Human Rights Council,” Ms. Keetharuth said during the 53rd session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) in Banjul, The Gambia, where she held an ad-hoc meeting with the delegation of Eritrea in the margins of the event.

Eritrea: 'Freedom Friday' Movement Challenges 'North Korea of Africa'

A new grassroots movement in Eritrea that draws inspiration from the Arab revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia is poised to challenge the one-party authoritarian rule of president Isaias Afewerki, who has been in power for twenty years.

The Freedom Friday (Arbi Harnet) movement, started in November 2011 by the Eritrean diaspora, is finally gaining momentum inside the country according to Meron Estefanos, a human rights activist and presenter with the Sweden-based Radio Erena, which broadcasts in Eritrea and around the world.

In tandem with Eritrean Youth for Change (EYC) and the Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change (EYSC), Estefanos has set up a new campaign to reverse the Arab-style call to take to the streets every Friday. Instead, it urges Eritreans to empty the streets.

More:

Name:	*
Username:	*
Write e-mail:	*
Password:	*
Verify Password:	*
Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.