I love this poem by Safiyyah Abdullah.

Peace and blessings,

Noraay x

 

I have taken back my voice

The one u have tried to steal from me

The one that speaks of my entirety

Not just those aspects of me

that you want to see

My voice…my voice is mine

It is part of that which defines

Me

Reflects me

Selects that part of me…

That I wish to share

That voice which speaks of things

you don’t want to see

Or hear

And No, I really don’t care

Whether or not

you want

to hear

I have taken back my voice and

I will speak loudly…no…

I will shout…no!

I will scream…no!

I will roar…

For I am the women raped mercilessly

Aztecs at the hands of Spaniards

Lakota at the hands of white settlers

Bosnian at the hands of Serbs

Palestinian at the hands of Israelis

Southern Sudanese at the hands of North

Congolese at the hands militias

Iraqi girls at the hands of American soldiers

Women       at     the      hands     of     men

I am taking back my voice.

And my body.

Because they are mine!

No longer will I take the blame

Or hang my head in

shame at what you have imposed on me

I refuse to be isolated,

humiliated by society

no…I will raise my voice loudly

Until u are forced to hear me

forced to look at me…

directly

and see

Your shame!!!

Your blame!!!

Your silence!!

 

For I

Have

None.

I have taken back my voice.

The one u have tried to steal from me

The one that speaks of my entirety

Not just those aspects of me

that you want to see.

and with my voice I will declaim, decry, denounce, and condemn,

your use of  phosphorus gas &  chemical weapons

Of drones and clones and land mines

Of propaganda designed to destroy minds

and hope…

For I am Palestine, whose body burns inside

Skin melting from within

I am Somalia, Limbs blown from mines down under

I am Pakistan, Lives destroyed by bombs above

Innocent blood

Staining the wings of doves

I am the sound waves of war…

Still,

Vacant

Absent

Because war is not about sound.

It is about the silence…

the silence of humanity

I am taking my voice back

filling these sound waves with words

not the language of civility..

how casually we treat casualties…

as if they were just property

ignoring the reality

that 90% of war casualties

are people just like you & me…

civilians…

in fact 75% of them

are innocent

women & children.

I am not a dead man walking.

Rather a woman reborn

Hatred shorn

like lamb’s wool.

Having been the black sheep my whole life

I can testify that Black sheep

Grow the most wool.

I am the story of the other side of war

Not just the side that fights…

I am also the side that gives life.

I am the women who keep the schools open,

Gather flour during cease fires

bake bread for neighbors,

play puppet stories and sing songs

to entertain children during bomb

raids….

The one who  gave

pieces of chocolate,

so the children would not be afraid…..

THIS is our resistance…

to your insistence that we cannot live free.

We, in the mist of war, declare our humanity.

 

So I have taken back my voice

The one u have tried to steal from me

The one that speaks of my entirety

not just those aspects of me

that you want to see

My voice…my voice is mine

It is part of that which defines

Me

Reflects me

Selects that part of me…

That I wish to share

And No, I really don’t care

Whether or not

you want

to hear it

Because I have taken back my voice

That voice which speaks of things

you don’t want to see

Or hear

Because then it will be clear

That you have no choice

But to challenge

That voice

within you

that has also … been silenced…

 

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