Multilingual poetry

Inspired by Sujata Bhatt’s poem Search for My Tongue, WHS poets wrote their own multilingual poems on the theme of Home.

Phoebe, Imogen, Safa, Antonia and Amelia (Year 11)

Perhaps I’ll visit it someday

Wenn ich ruhiger wäre, würden Sie mich sehen?

καιπερ ὁ θάνατος ὁ ἀγων ἡμεις οἰκιαν 

ὠς ὁ ποταμός τρέχει εἰς την θαλασσαν

And so we find our place again

Wakarimasen 

I don’t understand what you’re saying 

Matte! Matte!

Para mi la casa es un lugar

Donde las lenguas que escucho me hacen pensar 

Que se mueven como serpientes

O pájaros pa riba y pa bajo

A casa é um lugar onde posso morar

sem medo de me perder 

Because the people there know me better than I do

And their feet walked the same paths I will too

Isabelle, Alyssa, Jessica, Lucy and Homare (Year 11)

Home is like a family,

that isn’t bound by blood.

Home is like a million hugs,

that hit you like a flood

家は私の居場所で

どこに行っても必ずある場所

家は私が安全で心強く入れる

時間が止まる場所

ghar hai jahaan mera dil hain

jahaan mein bur sakti hoon

ghar par main khud ho sakti hoon

ye hain mera gharr

Jetzt bin ich erstmal hier,

kein rumrennen mehr,

hier schön sicher und wir werden nie wieder zurück

Wir sind zu Hause.

Immer zu Hause.

Grace, Lauren, Athena, Abi and Isabel (Year 11)

Home. Maison. Casa. Jia. 屋企.

I remember my grandparents cooking.

Je me souviens de mon père qui regarde la télé.

Me acuerdo mi madre leyendo un libro.

Wo xi gai wo de mei mei zai hua yuan pao bu.

我記得我細佬聽緊音樂.

It is crazy, imprévisible, ruidosa, mang,  亂, but it is

Home. Maison. Casa. Jia. 屋企.

Allegra, Harriet, Amiya and Shalini (Year 8)

Can We Go Home?

There is a bedroom (camera) with

Yellow (peela) wallpaper. It is

Small (chorta) yet big (buddha) and is the

Home of my daydreams (dägdrommer)

I want to go home

Kan vi gå hem? (can we go home?)

There is a kitchen (cucina) with

Huldi (turmeric), numak (salt), daal chini (cinnamon), gira (cumin)

Pizza, pasta, gelato, mozzarella, pomodoro,

Bhujiya (potatoes and vegetables), daal (lentils), paneer (cheese), dhanaiya (coriander), chapattis (bread)

I want to go home

Mer gur jana chriti houm. (I want to go to my home)

Jag vill vara i min kök (I want to be in my kitchen)

min rum, min hem (my bedroom, my home)

men jag är här – låst, långt, långt iväg (but I am here – stuck, far, far away)

I en plats som jag kan aldrig (in a land that I can never)

kalla hem (call home)

Eve, Elodie, Bibi, Iris and Pola (Year 9)

Mój dom

Słowo ze często nie używam 

Ale korzystam z idei każdy dzień.

Home is everywhere

I’m always returning, but often wish I could leave.

Je suis extrêmement reconnaissant de votre aide.

Mój mały domek.

Ciagle tam stoi i nigdy nie opuści mojego wzroku.

An abstract concept yet one written in stone,

I can’t leave; I am trapped,

I’m my home,

Home, Home, I’m Alone.

Temperatura, zasoby, zawsze na wyciągnięcie ręki. 

Mais quand j’arrive à la maison, le stress disparaît.

I smile and I frown, I laugh and I cry, my home is my sanctuary, my peace, and my life.

Dom, Dom

Mały, duży, piękny, brzydki ale

Przez wszystkie moje kłopoty,

Mój dom jest zawsze mój.

Alba, Catherine and Evie (Year 11)

Chez moi, il y a

Un sens de securité,

C’est,

Un lugar de amor,

C’est,

une place à décompresser,

et c’est la plus importante pour moi,

A home isn’t a place, but the people within it.

Je l’adore.

Do je.’