Sorry :
Night fell.
The darkness was thin,
like some sleazy dress
that’s been worn and worn.
My soul wears away
as if it were a piece of glass
lying on a sandy beach,
Just waiting to fade away,
As if my soul were an abandoned house,
Standing lonesome in the darkness,
Not paying any attention
To the people passing by,
The people With an apologetic look on their faces
as if to say I feel sorry for you¨
They say:
They say you are beautiful just the way you are,
They tell you to be yourself,
They tell you not to take it personally,
They tell you to be happy,
They tell you that you are strong and independent,
They tell you that you shouldn’t listen to them,
Then they say you are ugly
Then they try and change you
Then they make it personal
Then they make you miserable
Then they take you down
Then they make you listen
But you are beautiful
And you try your best to stay true to yourself
And you don’t take it personally
and you are happy
And strong
And independent
And you don’t listen to them
They try their hardest to make you feel ugly
They try their hardest to change you
They try their hardest to shatter you
They try their hardest to depress you
They try their hardest to destroy you
They try their hardest to make you listen
But they don’t get to you because you are a
Strong, independent, beautiful, funny, amazing,
Creative, joyful, kind, loving, adorable, brilliant,
Successful, fun, courageous, powerful, daring, wise,
Respectful, happy, special, delightful, playful, blessed,
exquisite, positive, optimistic, free, wild, confident, peaceful,
Imaginative, wonderful, person to be around and you don’t need them!
sunsets:
The sun sets gradually,
spreading its beautifully colored rays
spilling out onto the horizon
like pieces of shattered glass.
There is a tree
standing so deserted
in the gorgeously colored light.
All around i hear a song of the earth..
Its melody so perfect it seems fabricated.
As I explore I realize that I am also isolated,
yet I feel comforted by the solitude,
Sorrow:
He came home,
Said nothing,
Walked right past me,
stood there
With a look on his face.
I know that look.
Itś that look you give when
You feel empty,
When you feel like
nothing matters anymore
When you just don’t care anymore
but deep inside
You do.
you care too much.
You just break inside,
Into a million little pieces.
But in the end
it doesn’t really matter.
Dear Rifadh,
Hello my name is Shabanu, and I am 12 years old. I live in Pakistan in the desert. In a year, I am going to marry my cousin murad. My family and I are nomads and move to a different place each time our toba dries up. This is very difficult for me because I have no say in this. I have a sister named Phulan and she was going to marry our cousin hamir but sadly, he got shot.
In my country there is a lot of violence from the taliban, and lack in water. There is also a lot of discrimination towards women and girls. We are forced into marriage and relationships, we are sold off to men for money, we are forced into slavery, and we are killed or hurt if we do anything wrong. But there are also some instances where women are not treated as badly as I am describing, but they are rare.
Just like many girls, I was forced into marrying murad. Luckily he is nice and would never do anything to harm me. we have grown up together playing games and things like that. There is no way I could change any of this, but I am just so lucky and grateful that he is kind. Just like how you are being forced to move to yemen and be a housewife, I am also a housewife and have been working since I was very young and have not much of a problem with it.
I have heard that in your country a lot of women give birth around 25 or 29 years of age, that is the same as my country! I have also heard that your country is sunni just like my country. I am very glad that we have so many things in common!
I wanted to ask you if you are going to do anything about the decisions your father made for you because i have heard a few stories where women rebel against their fathers and husbands and terrible things always happen! I would not like it if someone hurt you just for saying your opinion.
I have also heard that you got second place in the international quran memorization competition. I am glad that a girl can win and I am very proud of you. I don’t think I could ever do something like that! Good luck with your father!
From shabanu,
Hi, its me again! I know you missed me. Today I wanted to talk about how people don’t acknowledge the fact that I have brought sons into this world! I find it that people don’t treat me superior to my sister even though I have two, not one, but two sons and she has none! And yet they treat us the same! It is outrageous! Today we were at the fire and I was telling her about my sons and how amazing they are. when we were finished with our conversation she turned to Shabanu and Phulan and said “don’t worry you are better than seven sons”. Can you believe how disrespectful that was! she said it right in front of me! I think that this was so disrespectful and rude, how can two daughters be better than two sons!