- emigréenounChapter 1 →
A woman who has left her home country, usually for political reasons, and now lives in a foreign land. The feminine form of 'émigré,' used when the person who emigrated is female.
- bannedadjectiveChapter 1 →
Officially forbidden or prohibited by a government or authority, so that speaking of it, returning to it, or claiming it is treated as illegal.
“It is the city of my childhood, banned by the state, and I am branded by it.”
- brandedverbChapter 1 →
Permanently marked or labelled — here, stamped with an identity tied to a forbidden place, the way cattle are burned with an owner's mark, making the speaker recognisable and suspect.
“It is the city of my childhood, banned by the state, and I am branded by it.”
- sick with tyrantsphraseChapter 1 →
Suffering under cruel, oppressive rulers who have seized total control; the city is described as diseased or corrupted by the people who now govern it by force.
- dark filmnounChapter 1 →
A thin, obscuring layer — here used figuratively for the shadow of oppression and suffering that coats the present-day city, blocking out its former brightness.
- statelessadjectiveChapter 1 →
Having no recognised nationality or citizenship in any country, often because a government has revoked a person's documents or the country they came from no longer accepts them.
- CustomsnounChapter 1 →
The official border checkpoint where authorities inspect travellers and their belongings, deciding who and what may legally enter a country.
“My city hides behind me as I try to get it through Customs — it whispers the name of what I most want.”
- blacklistnounChapter 1 →
An official list of people who are banned, distrusted, or denied entry — being on it means authorities will stop or punish you at a border or checkpoint.
- checkpointnounChapter 1 →
A controlled point at a border or road where guards stop people to check their identity and decide whether they are allowed to pass.
- sunlightnounChapter 1 →
Used throughout the poem not just as literal light but as a symbol of the warm, uncorrupted memory the speaker carries — the brightness that no political darkness can extinguish.
- passersbynounChapter 1 →
People who happen to be walking past in the street and notice something unusual — here, strangers who look with suspicion at the speaker and her personified city.
The EmigréeShort story by Carol Rumens