My birthplace was obliterated
in turn,
Its streets were reduced
to silent ashes.
My home, my past—
stolen by force,
My ancestors, slaughtered
by a brutal hand.
Yet here, I breathe—
a nearly dead survivor.
Since my birth,
Discrimination lingers like cancer.
The storm of barbarism brews above me,
Invading my cells like a ceaseless curse.
Yet,
like a paralyzed patient,
I endure.
No voices rise for those like me,
Our bodies plundered,
our spirits drained.
No place grants me
a single night of peace.
No home remains to call my own.
Yet, I witness—
an orphan of resilience.
The ground beneath my feet
belongs to others
The water I drink today
is not mine.
My existence hangs
on others’ mercy.
Even my life feels foreign to me.
Still,
I cling to hope,
a drowner in the river.
In my fate,
chronic obstacles are etched.
In my hands,
the chains of inhumanity tighten.
In my head,
unjust burdens are overloaded.
In my mind,
the fear of catastrophe festers.
Yet still, I endure—
A soul lost,
yet refusing to fade.
Still, I persist—
dead alive in this cowshed of a world.
But, Never forget;
I’m still breathing and
I will stand by one day
To take revenge for
every single sand of inhumanity
I will rise at the horizons
Not as a villain, but as a hero.
Remember,
I’m still breathing.
Ro Hefzu is a 22-year-old Rohingya poet, author of "Still I Breathe” (upcoming) whose voice was raised in the fire of genocide. He was born in the countryside of Myanmar's Rakhine State, but he now lives as a refugee in the world's largest camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. He, himself, is a poet of witness, born from the trauma of displacement and the struggle for survival in a "cage of confinement".Following the brutal genocide of 2017, he fled to Bangladesh, and picked up a pen to defend his people and give form to his haunting memories. His poems, featured in platforms such as Tomorrow Club (in cooperation with PEN International) and Scribbled, are written with what he describes as "the ink of his own blood". While he writes his people's stories—genocide, the search for peace, it doesn't end there. He holds his pen against any injustice, for any people, anywhere in the world. In addition to his writing, Ro Hefzu, serves as a camp teacher dedicating his time to nurture the young minds of Rohingya children building a basic path to the future of his community despite his own challenges. Through his work, he builds a home for hope, peace, and love, guided by his simple, powerful principle: “Let kindness be the sky of the world and justice be its ground.”His message to the world is simple: refugees are not just survivors. Every refugee is a human being. He wants the world to know that every person's voice deserves to be heard and valued, regardless of their ethnicity, colour, or status.