DO YOU HEAR HER WORDS?
Faheem Hasan Shahed
I assert myself as a powerful human
triumphantly existing in my own way
with nobility and gallantry,
righteousness and dignity,
graciousness and tranquility,
decency and wisdom,
self-respect and freedom...
Yet you, the boastful South Asian male, with all your
juvenile egotism,
heartless naïveté
incendiary superstition,
love to term my individuality as
woman-power*!
Aah, why should I care
when I’ve already started flying across
the plush blue sky of endless spirit?
I composed this poem as a small tribute to all South Asian women who, fighting against personal, social, economic and otherwise obstacles, have been inching toward empowerment.