When I think about my heritage,
I think about my parent’s childhood pictures.
Baby pictures from when they were born,
At a moment when they were vulnerable and helpless
Pictures from when they were kids, hanging out with their friends
Pictures from their adolescence, trying to figure life out
Pictures from when they were those people who weren’t my parents.
 
But I do not have the luxury to see these pictures.
They didn’t have the luxury to carry them.
 
Just like the Jaffna Public Library that got burned down by its coloniser state,
Traces of their history have disappeared while they fled bombs and erasure.
 
I never got to witness their youth & innocence,
So all I want now is to live mine
Shout that I’m here and alive,
And take as many photographs to remember,
And that I get to pass on my childhood pictures.

Collaboration:
JE SUIS MTL x JÉ T'AIME
Participant:
Asmina
Date: