I pick up the broken pieces,
the pain, wound, insults,
lies, betrayal, scars,
your words.
I eat my tears, silent,
don’t have an answer,
so I call my heart,
Ask if I am such a bad person?
Do I deserve the thrust of your mistrust?
I asked my heart,
Do you know me?
Is it you who understands me in this world?
Do you know the woman who breathes in me?
My heart’s eyes fill, tears,
and I hear the voice of her breath.
She looked into my eyes and said,
“Forgive yourself. You are the daughter of love,
The voice of love and passion.
You are the arms of tolerance.
You walk over the ignorance bridge,
talk on behalf of absent voices.
I know you,
understand you well in this world.
Remember that never will anybody else.”
I understand the woman who breathes in me.
“You deserve love,” she says.
“I know that you are dear.”
By N.
This work was supported by the Fetzer Institute.
I am awed by the beauty of this poem. You continue to inspire me with your creativity and the artful way you have of depicting the inner life of a young woman. I became teary eyed reading this but it also made me smile with the last lines. Amazing work! Nancy
I love listening to your heart so very much.
Stacy
Thank you, N. This is beautiful and so touches me.
Roselle
Thank you for your beautiful poem. It speaks deeply to me. I think it will speak to many women regardless of the country they live in. Thank you for writing.
Marie
We read this poem out loud in a women’s writing workshop in the county prison work release center. It touched our hearts when we considered the last time we talked and listened to our hearts. Then the women wrote poems of their own and talked to their own hearts. Thank you for inspiring us.
Lisa
I am completely at a loss of words about how beautiful and emotional this poem is. It is a sorrowful story , which is written clearly with a lot of emotion put into it. A story about how women in Afghanistan have to be the strongest, and the words are so powerful with so much meaning and it makes you really think about women in a different perspective.