Hosnia Mohseni
I can be beautiful and put together
Without an occasion
Just for my own gaze,
And I can not.
For my own happiness,
I can adorn myself,
Darken my eyes with kohl and color my lips
And I can not.
I can be angry,
I can laugh, I can cry,
But I cannot tolerate imposition.
I cannot remain silent in the face of pain.
I cannot be neutral to oppression.
I cannot accept being the second sex.
I am not a poet,
But I can write.
I can’t read my words
Only in the bed, in the kitchen,
Within the four walls of my home.
I can’t lock away my voice.
—
Read this poem in Persian here.