For this week’s Haikai Challenge we are contemplating ‘independence’ in the context of America’s Independence Day; the detainment of children attempting to cross the southern U.S. border; or another context we choose. My mind went to the plastic and laminated cards in my wallet that confirm my Canadian status, my rights and freedoms acquired at birth. After some rumination these haiku came to mind:
.
barbed wire –
legal barriers
at national borders
.
.
stateless –
privileges dissolved
in a black hole
.
.
jus soli
my nationality
planet Earth
.
.
Statelessness is a condition that applies to millions of people worldwide. The Wikipedia article on the topic opens with:
In international law, a stateless person is someone who is “not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law”. Some stateless persons are also refugees. However, not all refugees are stateless, and many persons who are stateless have never crossed an international border. On 13 November, 2018, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned there are about 12 million stateless people in the world.
jus soli, meaning ‘right of the soil‘ is a criteria used for determining nationality based on place of birth.
©️2019 Ontheland
Reblogged this on Frank J. Tassone and commented:
#Haiku Happenings #4: Janice’s latest haiku sequence for my current #haikai challenge!
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Thank you, Frank 🙂
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😇
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I really love this Haiku sequence. It is so current, strong and beautifully written.
” my nationality planet Earth ”
miriam
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Thank you, Miriam. If only we didn’t have to be so controlling about borders….I have no easy solutions other than more respect and kindness in enforcement.
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Within countries boarders of states, provenience’s, counties, cities, districts – some privileges do not overlap.
From the air a bird does not see these things. From the ground seeds sprout where the wind takes them.
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All those invisible lines and differences in laws…
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Sometimes within the same families… in-laws. 🙂
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:))
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Very good. One world. One people.
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Well done Janice!
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Thank you, Dwight 🙂
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🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀
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