d cold foreign streets. She shows broken bodies, tired hearts, and deep fear. Through these events and places, she proves that refugees suffer great pain and humiliation during their long journey. They carry wounds on the body and wounds in the mind.

The Road is Full of Pain and Danger: Shire writes at the very beginning of the poem, 

“You only leave home when home won’t let you stay.” 

Shire shows that the journey is full of danger from the very beginning. She writes that people spend days and nights in the stomach of a truck. This picture shows darkness, heat, hunger, and fear. Refugees crawl under fences that cut their skin. They walk miles that never end. They face beatings and shouting at the borders. They are shot at the border like a sick animal. These events show deep suffering. No one would choose this path unless they had no other choice.

Parents Risk Everything for Their Children: Shire uses parents to show pain. A parent would never put a child into danger unless the danger at home is greater. So, she writes, 

“No one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land.” 

This line shows a mother or father with fear in the chest. The boat is unsafe. The sea is dangerous. But home is worse. This choice is painful. It breaks the heart. This is suffering and humiliation together.

Humiliation Under Guards and Strangers: Shire shows that refugees lose their dignity. She writes that people are undressed and searched. Their bodies are touched without care. Their pride is taken away. They wait in long lines at borders and camps. They face guards who treat them like criminals. She says they find prison everywhere. This means they cannot move freely anywhere. They face fear at every step. Their bodies ache. Their minds shake.

Cruel Words and Harsh Insults: Shire shows that humiliation also comes from words. People who escape war are insulted when they reach new places. She writes the words they hear, 

“Go home Blacks, dirty refugees.”

These words show hate. They show racism. They show that refugees are not welcome. They are judged by their skin, their country, and their pain. These words enter deep inside the heart. They make the suffering heavier.

Losing Identity and Feeling Unwanted: Shire shows emotional humiliation, too. In part II, the speaker says, 

“My beauty is not beauty here”. 

This line shows how the new land rejects her. She does not feel human. She feels small. She feels ashamed. She again says, 

“I don’t know where I’m going.”

This shows fear and confusion. She loses her past. She loses her pride. She loses her sense of self. This is deep suffering.

The Body Carries Fear and Memory: Shire shows how violence stays inside the body. The speaker remembers men who looked like her father hurting women. She remembers pain and fire. She says all of this new life is still better than the scent of a woman completely on fire. This shows that her suffering is great, yet the suffering at home was greater. Her journey carries deep fear and deep humiliation. She runs from death.

Warsan Shire uses dark roads, cruel borders, hateful words, broken pride, and painful memories to show how refugees suffer and face humiliation during their journey. Their bodies hurt. Their minds bleed. Their hearts break. They keep moving because standing still is more dangerous. They suffer because they want to live.