Written by Pashtana Durrani
Dare to dream
Dare to be brave
Dare to be a soldier
Dare to question the gender pay gap
Dare to smash the patriarchy
Dare to educate
Dare to support
Dare to paint
Dare to write
Dare to sing
Dare to laugh
Dare to walk alone
Dare to care for yourself
Dare to fight
Dare to be in solidarity
Dare to be the whistleblower
Dare to run for office
Dare to hold office
Dare to hold a degree
Dare to speak up
Dare to represent your sisters
Dare to read
Dare to believe in peace
Dare to be in love
Dare to fly solo around the world
Dare to befriend creatures you don’t know
Dare to be the torchbearer
Dare to return home and serve your mother nation
Dare to live the life you imagine
Dare to travel
Dare to lead
Dare to drive
Dare to question the “shoulds” and “should nots”
Dare to be the first
Dare to answer
Dare to be opinionated
Dare to be in STEM
Dare to be your own hero
Dare to be a mother who raises feminist sons
Dare to support a sister you haven’t met
Dare to stand up to injustice
To strong women in Afghanistan and around the globe
Dare to be unapologetically you.
Read this poem in Pashtu here.
Image courtesy of Free Women Writers member Rohina Sediqui.