We are like seized birds
Without an identity
Called mother, sister, wife
Lips sealed
Voices stifled
Cannot speak without a man’s permission
Surrounded by walls
Our voices, our bodies
The way we walk and talk
Are said to make men lose control
Lead men on the road to hell
While we suffer in the delivery room
He is outside praying for a son
If it’s a girl,
He will pick the husband
A husband who will divorce her
Unless she obeys him
Our husbands can marry as often as they want
Wives and girlfriends and secret affairs
But you must be modest,
Hidden from strangers
You can’t express love without fear
He can judge
You are seen as mooncalf
He can go anywhere
You can go nowhere
You are valued as property, like a garden
He can force you morning and night
You are a seized bird
Let us hold hands
You may get free in the other world
Be here our value is only as wife and mother
Not as woman
By Sitara
Photo: Eric Kanalstein / UNAMA
Sitara,
I can not imagine all that women go through which is very upsetting that you are not valued for as a women. I find it very unfair how men can get away with all that yet women hidden from strangers. It must feel very unfair to have a father pick a daughters husband. Can not imagine how that may even feel.
Sitara — This is a heartbreaking poem that shines a light on the sad lives of many women in Afghanistan. Thank you for writing about these unfathomable truths. Love and wishes for a better tomorrow, Nancy