For all the girls who suffer violence
I wish you could be free of the cage and
come beside your other sisters
sitting in a school chair,
hugging your books,
rather than your baby.
I wish you could wear your school clothes,
rather than a wedding dress,
laugh with your classmates,
rather than cry with your kids.
I wish you could wear the white school headscarf,
rather than wear the green wedding veil,
sleep all night so you could do well
in your studies,
rather than stay up all night for the baby.
I wish you could laugh one day.
I wish all this for you, my beloved sister,
and for all the girls forced to marry too young.
By Maryam M.
U.S. Navy photo by Lt. j.g. Matthew Stroup
Dear Maryam,
Thank you for the lovely poem and important wish! You write very clearly and you use comparison to show the reader how different the two worlds are. The girls in cages are married and stay up all night and cry with their babies. The free girls are the lucky ones who go to school well-rested and succeed in making a happy life for themselves. I hope your wishes all come true, Suzanne
Dearest Maryam: This is a deeply affecting poem. It is extremely hard to be a mother, and it hurts so much to think of young women, often still girls themselves, are forced into this life, and denied the opportunity to educate themselves–and use that education for good in the family and in the world. Thank goodness that sometimes young mothers can still get an education -if there are programs in place – or, later on, once their children are grown. But that is an option for a few, not all, I know. I will carry your poem with me for a long time. Let’s do what we can to help the girls in our midst become sovereign and supported enough to make the best choices for themselves and their families! Stacy