No One Leaves Home Synthesis

My freshman English I teacher ended every class period with a reminder: “Be yourselves because everyone else is taken!” Although cheesy and probably the most cliché think I have heard to date, it must have hit the same synapse each time it was proclaimed; as I still recall it to this day. In addition to remembering the mantra-of-sorts, I came to believe it as total truth. It is because of this phrase that I fail to conform to whatever idol is deemed the worthiest of attention at any particular point in time. In the simplest way, I am trying to say that earlier generations have never been exposed to a piece where a band joins together to attempt to make sense of the heightened stupidity in America but do so in a way that most deem counterproductive or

The desperation held in the lines became the rallying theme in the GEK poem. Warsan talks about leaving home as a fed-up, unwilling, last resort. Similarly, GEK joins Antifa because America has been pushed to the brink of insanity, and despairingly Matt and Ms. Em become violent in the face of violence because what else can you do? The bottom line is when environmental aspects become so foreign, there is no choice but to act as you never would have before the change began. Another part of “GEK and Antifa vs. The World” gained from “No One Leaves Home”, is stylistic features. Warsan uses short lines that often are fragments and rarely punctuates stanzas. She uses new lines to add pauses or emphasize ideas. For example, “wade through oceans/drown/save/be hunger/beg/forget pride” represents six whole lines but all hit as hard as a complete ballad. I wanted to not only create that strength in the GEK poem but also harness the new-age writing style. In lines such as “The movement from point/A/to/B/Is unimportant,” I hope to have eloquently captured both traits of Warsan Shire’s