Category: Fellow Artists

Aye daughter

I see your ache

The wreck of your bein’

The lines of misery are all drawn the same

I see your dark night, no star in sight

And deafenin’ sounds

Of the earth beatin’ itself.. shakin’

Houses burnin’ comin’ down

Humans crying ..

I hear ya my girl..

Your pain ain’t not yours alone

It’s the smokin’ flamin’ burnin’

 on stake

Of mammas n grammas of centuries past

Beaten.. shamed.. accused.. n punished

I have you in my heart my girl..

But I see more.. my love?

 What’s that?

The darkness lain under your eyes,

The staring gaze .. the twitch right there,

The scratchy voice you spoken with,

The pallor around your lively mouth,

The stiffness .. readiness of how you sit,

The force you gather n hold your skirts with,

Ah what is that thing dear girl?

Fear.. ?

shame..!

Aye ma

My pain is that of centuries past

And centuries comin’

My heart and earth are shatterin’

Ya I am the madness in the streets of Kabul

 they killed with stones n bricks ma!

I am the witch they burnt on stake

For dancin’ with my friends the spirits

Ya mom

All that I am and every particle of my bein’

Has a story three-nights-long to tell

Yes ma

The shame n fear have come together

The twin serpents from gods own hell

I shake with shame for my weakness

I fear the streets ma, I fear the town..

You know ma, how I’m all the women like me before?

Aye..

Just as I am every woman ever lynched

Burnt alive, smothered, slain..

He is every single one of the mob!

Every hand that holds a stick

Or stone

Or torch

Screamin’ for blood ma!

I startle at lil sounds ma

I look behind me all the time

Y’know ma

It’s not even an even fight

He’s the eternal victor ma,

I, the eternally damned!

Yasmeen zehra anwer

*We thank Ash ES​ for sharing the works of this Poetess.