Afghani Blues

Those calm eyes, those thick brows,

That tanned skin and black hair,

With yellowing teeth and chipped nails,

Living petty lives in their petty kolbas

And seeing the slight world from their burkahs,

Carrying the weight of domination through centuries,

Yet meeting their stingy partner with unmoved resilience,

Bearing all the oppression with but not a modest grudge,

Such, are the beloved mothers of Afghanistan.

She serves her man with luscious food and spotless homes,

But does not complain when he batters her in vain,

She does not grudge his tantrums on direst issues,

And cleans up after him when he is done regaling friends,

She tries her best to quench his carnal needs,

But cannot say a word when he brings home another,

Such, are the beloved wives of Afghanistan.

Blessed are girls, who are slain at infancy,

They shall no longer have to face their ridiculed fate,

Of being deprived of the vast oceans of wisdom,

For they are curbed to learning dry household chores,

And handed broomsticks and needles before books and dolls…

Yet again, be sent off at adolescence,

Being expected to carry the liabilities of a woman,

With a stranger to a strange home in a strange land,

Such, are the beloved daughters of Afghanistan.

Yet composed, yet enduring, yet serene,

Their quiet smile is still a haven,

They look you in the eyes with no remorse,

They care for you like their own child,

They teach you the values of life,

Of the power of silence and control of the mind,

And having lived that scarce life for all its worth,

She passes on to far-flung reticence,

Such, are the women of Afghanistan.

These, and many such, are but small bits of Afghani Blues.

P.S. : Inspired by the novel ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ by Khaled Hoseini.