FOR EVERY DREAM I am in the fields
for every dream
shattered under the weight of
traditions and every freedom
shackled by
chains of customs.
For every sister
traded for her brother's honor
and every mother
abandoned and abused
for the birth of a girl child.
For every bride
tortured and burned alive
for the dearth of dowry
and every daughter
deemed less worthy
of education and inheritance.
For every child whose books
exchanged with henna
and every wife whose autonomy was buried with the vows of her marriage.
For every woman, called names
and judged impure, because her body
fell prey to your lust,
shall rise a generation
with anger in their eyes,
anger, that does not forgive,
that does not forget,
that does not breed
years of generated trauma.
A generation of gallant
men and women,
who are not afraid with the idea of equality.
A generation of women
who do not need men
to define their worth and beauty,
who are not slaves
to the notions of centuries,
who are not silenced
by fear or consolation,
who breed children
that fight for a world
where men and women
walk on the same road
not as subservients and masters,
but as equals and worthy,
with might and dignity and grace, that God created them
as worthy and beautiful.


© Summiaya Nilofer Kichloo