Sweden

242
Sweden – a pocket guide
•••••
Shame and shared humanity continued
he mean what I am thinking of now
Does he mean this question that
presents itself with such urgency: will
that man with the bag help me if I
need it again And what will she do
Her, in the red coat. What will they
do Which will be like Kemo, like
Alen, like Vernesa Which will be my
executioner
I looked at their faces and wondered.
Was what I saw in
the war the truth
about people
A possible truth
Beneath the veneer In waking reality
I didn’t want to think about that.
There was no time for it. I wanted to
enjoy the light while it was there.
After a few days, someone said I had
to report to the police, apply for asylum,
try to get a residence permit. On
television, they talked about how immigrants
had to adapt, integrate, be
educated. But the words were coming
from another world.
Not mine.
I think that person, the one who
could care about that, died in
Sarajevo. It was just that nobody had
noticed.
Was what I saw in the war the truth
about people A possible truth I was
certain it wasn’t a nightmare, it was
too real for that. It felt more like life
here was a dream. A state of slumber,
before the necessary rest of
dreams enshrouded me. And beyond
that
Jasenko Selimovic came to Sweden in
the last days of 1992. He is currently
working as artistic director
of Göteborgs Stadsteater.
This article is an extract from an
upcoming book.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••