I Am Homesick

Days and night pass,

Months and years pass.

But I am still right here,

Away from the place that I call ‘Home’…

In the midst of crowded and noisy Manila city,

I’m struggling with a life,

A student life that is like a robot,

A routinely day and duty,

My day starts when I wake up and go to class,

And ends when I come back to my empty room,

Where no one waiting,

No one preparing for my dinner,

And no one comforting me with sweet words,

Which I most want to hear now,

“Oh, Daughter, you are back…”

With tiredness and hunger,

I cook instant noodles,

And refill my energy to live for another day,

Bring with me, a load of assignments

Working restlessly and endlessly all night,

A glimpse of sleep for 4 to 5 hours,

And a new day begins again…

In the midst of strange places and peoples,

I cannot find a place to be called ‘Home’,

A place that I can rest my anxious heart,

That I can lay my burden for awhile,

Oh, I am so homesick

I just want to escape from the pretending world,

And run back to the place that I belong to

To my old mother and father

Who are waiting for me

I remember my mom’s words,

When I tell her I want to come home,

“Daughter, why you want to come back

To your old and poor house,

Where you don’t have anything,

Out there you have everything,

And brighter future…”

But no place is like ‘Home’ in the world,

Where I can find,

Love and understanding,

Comfort and the feeling of secure.

How much I long to go home,

But still, still…I just can’t go home…

By Kanyamaw

( Note: This poem is dedicated to the students who are studying in other countries, far away from their family and who are feeling homesick like what I am exactly feeling now.)