Refia Meryem Acar’s poem got the first position in the ‘Children’s Poetry’ category of the PakTurk File Arts Competition titled ‘My Life in Pakistan’. We publish 12-year old Refia Meryem’s poem ‘My Dear Country Pakistan’ as is.

Note: As no other work was submitted in the poetry category, the second and third were not selected.

My Dear Country Pakistan

I was born in Lahore

Lived there for three years

I also had a dear friend named Kubra

We’ve been buddies for twelve years

Later, it was journey time,

We got prepared to move.

Later, we went to Peshawar

To meet new people there.

We lived there for five months,

Before it was time for another journey.

This time, Jamshoro was the destination

For us to setup our lives anew.

We lived in Jamshoro for four years,

I loved there the most.

Later, the time came again

To leave our city behind.

We moved to Hyderabad,

I had a parrot named Jani.

I loved it so much.

Still, it was the end of the road.

We left everyone behind

Without even saying goodbye

To Jani and everyone we loved.

We had to leave the country,

Later, we went to Bosnia at first,

And lived there for five months.

Now I am here, in Germany,

Where everyone made fun of me.

At first, learning German was tough,

I studied every day, not skipping a beat.

I had no friends,

As they saw themselves,

Superior to me.

At least, I had my parents,

They always fixed my broken heart.

I was always alone at the school,

Those children did not love me.

It was time to move

To another corner of Germany.

Now I am here

And my life is on track.

I wish for another journey

To visit there one more time again.

Even though it may never happen,

I wish I could go back to my dear country Pakistan.