Florence Faqiryar
This poem is for the thousands of Afghan women living with abuse, rape and violence. You are not alone.
My brother burns me.
My father kills me.
My mother hates me.
My husband beats me.
I die every day,
Why am I still alive?
My people blame me.
My culture chokes me.
My “religion” stones me.
My society limits me.
I die every day,
Why am I still alive?
My countryman throws acid on my face.
My police rapes me.
My family beheads me.
My fate is a brutal death.
I die every day,
Why am I still alive?
My nationality deprives me.
My gender lags me behind.
My God ignores me.
The world watches me.
I die every day,
Why am I still alive?
—
Image from vigil held to remember Farkhunda.
Read this piece in Persian here.