‘At the border’ is a autobiographical account of a section of Choman Hardi’s childhood. Born in Kurdistan and raised in Iraq and Iran, Choman Hardi came to the UK in 1993. She was educated at the universities of Oxford, London and Kent shown by her work ‘At the border’ is a poem about a girl standing at the border between Kurdistan and Iran with her own family as well as other families crossing the borer as well.Her sister put her leg across the chain that divides the two countries and called out to her family ‘look over here, my right leg is in this country and my left leg is in the other’, the border guards told her off. Chamon Hardi perceives her sister as a childish figure yet she doesn’t mention her sisters age which i believe was deliberate as she wanted us to in our own minds to give her sister an age.
November 30, 2012 at 9:53 am
This is a good initial explanation of the content and context of the poem. Now you will be able to develop an understanding of how this poem reflects the experience of caught between more than one nation, not necessarily belonging anywhere.