Editor’s note: This poem was written for International Women’s Day, March 8, 2014.
I dedicate this to all women in the world and wish them health, respect, and love—especially the four women who taught me how to live: my mother and my beloved sisters.
Over the past four years, my homeland has changed so much.
I’m a young woman and feel my homeland is headed toward better things.
Time passes. We women change roles as we go through who we are in life—sister, daughter, mother, grandmother, aunt, wife, and much more.
The builder of society is woman. And only a woman knows how to manage it all—the trust of a family while being a leader.
Women are stronger than stone and softer than feather, more beautiful than the moon, brighter than sun.
In Afghanistan’s past, the Women’s Day would not be celebrated.
Today, the street of flowers is overwhelmed with blooms for this Day.
Moment by moment, the stature of women in Afghanistan strengthens—from having the voting card all the way to our many careers.
A girl goes out without as many stares as before. We go to school in Kabul.
We wear no Burqa there.
My dream of graduating school and becoming a teacher is coming true.
I have only one year left.
I am not alone.
Thousands of other girls will wear the smile of graduation.
They will hold their heads up high, proud to be a girl and to start their lives.
Peace is here, helping us take our hands every time we fall.
Mothers support their children and we support them for voting.
We know after each night, there is a bright morning waiting to raise the sun high.
Never lose hope. Follow your dreams, and respect yourself, always—because we are women.
Happy Women’s Day.
by Aysha