The Other – Why Bother?
Poem woven on the spot by Ziysah von Bieberstein. www.ziysah.ca
Words and ideas sourced from the panelists and speakers of “The Other” – Why Bother?” Abraham Festival event on May 14, 2025, Nogojiwanong (Peterborough, Ontario) www.abrahamfestival.org
The other can be reconciled.
I absorbed the pain of the Nakba through story.
My earliest drawings were of war.
They were lovely neighbours but be cautious.
We imagine what is beyond our own borders.
Far from who? Near to what?
Whatever we are, they are not.
Snake charmers and veiled women.
The weird-smelling lunch, the name you can’t pronounce.
Turban. Hooked nose. Dark skin.
You don’t look Canadian, man.
You don’t look Burmese, man.
You don’t look like an Arab.
I am small, but I was smaller then.
Speak white! Can I touch your hair?
We have been seen as the other, even in our own country.
We are deprived from going to school, from having jobs.
Too scared to go to the doctor.
Too dangerous to cross the river.
You think you are not sufficient.
But my mother told us we are not different.
The owners of power want us to fight.
If we unite, they will fail.
Today’s sun won’t bring harm.
Our stories must be heard.