© Lozan Yamolky
In a world that seems to be
filled with smiling people
everywhere you look,
your own sadness and grief are keeping you inside;
your curtains closed
and your lights dimmed.
In a family filled with socializing siblings,
fatigue is keeping your phone silent
and you are desiring to crawl deeper
into yourself in search of solitude.
In a workplace where you are
expected to be cheerful and positive,
anxiety is making you unable
to pull yourself out of your bed
in the morning.
Giant billboard ads
of friendly happy gatherings
are making you feel ashamed
and awkward for being unhappy.
Yet, you smile,
you socialize,
you work
and you blend in with the rest
despite the pain within.
Neglecting who you are and how you feel
to make others happy
is only a temporary remedy
to ease the deep pain you feel inside.
Many smiling faces around you
are hiding the pain too.
I know your pain
because I have been there.
Today,
I want you to know,
I understand.
Today,
I release you from the pressure
to be like the rest.
Today,
I set you free
from the chains of society’s expectations;
at least temporarily.
Today,
be comfortable to be who you are
and realize how you feel is natural.
Today,
you don’t have to say
‘I am fine’ when you truly are not!
Here is my embrace.
Here are my welcoming arms
and here is the place for you to be you.
Just remember
when you come in,
leave your smiling mask
at my front door.
__________
© Lozan Yamolky
A pome from the book: Counting Waves
Published by: Silver Bow in 2017
To order your copy of my book or my debut book (I’m NO Hero), contact me.
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Published by Lozan Yamolky
First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge that I humbly live on the traditional, unceeded territories of the səlil̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) & xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. Thank you for allowing me to live on your land —Vancouver, BC Canada.
I am a Canadian citizen who migrated from Kurdistan —Present day Northern Iraq, in 1995 after spending over a year as an asylum seeker in Turkey.
I was born and raised in Baghdad in 1972, I am the fifth of eleven children; three boys and seven girls –one brother passed away in infancy.
I am the author of ( I’m No Hero) and ( Counting Waves ) published by: Silver Bow Publishing. I am dedicating my third book of poems ( Dreamers Needed ) to my teenage boys, Trey, 15 and Wyatt, 13.
I started reciting my poems for the first time in 2013 at The Holy Wow Poets Canada in Maple Ridge. I am currently a member of the Canadian Authors Association, Federation of BC Writers, The Royal City Literary Art Society and the Holy Wow Poets Canada. I am presently the secretary of the Royal City Literary Arts Society. I work as a freelance interpreter.
I was commissioned in the fall of 2017 to write a poem about the refugee experience to DaCapo Chamber Choir in Toronto. The event will feature my poem “I am here” in spring 2019.
I was one of the recipients of the 2018 Distinguished Poet Award from WIN– Writers International Network Canada and was 3rd place winner at the 2018 Tagore Festival Peace Poems contest. Since first sharing my poetry in 2013, I have featured in numerous poetry events throughout the Greater Vancouver area.
My work has been published in The Royal City Poets Anthologies (Silver Bow Publishing), The Royal City Literary Arts Society online magazine eZine, Wordplay at Work, Creative Quills Ink Verse (North Vancouver), Celebrate Canada 150 and Culture Days From Far and Wide (Multicultural Creative Writing Collection 2017) and the 2018 Holy Wow Poets Anthology (Maple Ridge).
View all posts by Lozan Yamolky
Lozan Yamolky 