Rojia Forouhar Abadeh 2013 I n v i s i b l e H o m e s Without Here and there W here never w i l l c o m e n e a r and go away from a ny t h i n g , a l l t h e steps of the earth IwilltellyouwhatIwilldoandwhatIwillnotdo.Iwillnotservethatin whichInolongerbelieve,whetheritcallsitselfmyhome,myfatherland, ormychurch:andIwilltrytoexpressmyselfinsomemodeoflifeorartas freelyasIcanandaswhollyasIcan,usingformydefensetheonlyarmsI allowmyselftouse-­‐-­‐silence,exile,andcunning. __JamesJoyce C o n t e n t s: 0 Prelude _ Field Hospital 1 ……………………………………………….............……………………………..……… 1 _ Invisible 5 ……………………………………………………………………..……………………………………... 2 _ Homes 17 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3 _ Without Here and There 5 ………………………………………………………………...… 4 Postlude _ Where never will come near and go away from anything, all the steps of the earth 36 ………………………………………… Photo from Boeing 737 above Tehran 0 Prelude_ Field Hospital A long never-­‐ending night road slips beneath us and disappears under thecar.ThegroundofTehranisescapingmygraspandaswegetcloser totheairportthereislessandlessofitleft. -­‐ ‘I must hold the record of most trips to Imam Khomeini airport without actually having left Iran. Well, apart from the airport Taxi driversthatis,butthey’redoingtheirjob,it’sdifferent’ ThiswasAmirhossein’swayoflighteningtheweighing gloom thathad occupiedthecar.Welaughedandthenimmediatelyrememberedthose whohadgonedownthisroadandthosewhowillsoonmakethistrip. Manyarestrappedtocontainers.Theyhaveswumthecolddarkwaters ofthe English Channelto sneak into ferries and climb trucks disguised inreflectivealuminumfoil.Whiledrinkingcheapliquortowarmupand most possibly braven up before their final swim, they go over their rehearsals and check once again the route. Laid out in front of them drawn in pen and pencilisa map oftheCalaisferry terminalthatthey haveconfiguredthroughcarefuldailyinspections.Itisexciting,asifan actionfilmisabouttounfold.Butoncetheystartswimmingthroughthe chilledwetnightintheirlifejacketsitisclumsy,dangerous,frightening, almostdoomed.Whethertheymakeittotheothersideornottheywill stillbeoneofthenon-­‐existentlistoftheunregisteredmanywhoescape statisticsand documentation;theuncounted.They endureso much for the PromisedLand1. Perhaps my plight wanes in the heavy shadows of theirexile. Whateverthereasonsand motivesmightbe,whatevertheirimpacton what is abandoned and left behind, regardless of the place the immigrant, the refugee, the expatriate comes into, ‘a man is running fromtheworsetowardsthebetter.Thetruthofthematteristhatfrom 1