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Jura
What are your thoughts about this poem by Pakistani poet Kishar Naheed?
I am not that Woman by Kishwar Naheed
I am not that woman
Selling you socks and shoes!
Remember me, I am the one you hid
In your walls of stone, while you roamed
Free as the breeze, not knowing
That my voice cannot be smothered by stones,
I am the one you crushed
With the weight of custom and tradition
Not knowing
That light cannot be hidden in darkness.
Remember me,
I am the one in whose lap
You picked flowers
And planted thorns and embers
Not knowing
That chains cannot smother my fragrance
I am the woman
Whom you bought and sold
In the name of my own chastity
Not knowing
That I can walk on water
When I am drowning.
I am the one you married off
To get rid of a burden
Not knowing
That a nation of captive minds
Cannot be free.
I am the commodity you traded in,
My chastity, my motherhood, my loyalty.
Now it is time for me to flower free.
The woman on that poster, half-naked, selling socks and shoes-
No, no, I am not that woman!Great answers Roi, Romulus, Joseph and Zooey! Well done!
Apr 29, 2009 6:12 AM
Answers · 6
1
great poem! makes me grateful i didn't grow up that way.
joh, many poems don't rhyme. Rhyming is one device used in poetry, another is meter or rhythm. But there are no rules. Children and beginners like poems that rhyme because it's 'easy' to get what they are about. Free verse is a more advanced taste, like abstract painting and food that isn't sweet.
When you translate poetry from another language, it's a pretty hopeless task to try to make it rhyme in english. That will pretty much warp it into an ugly pretzel. And it's really not necessary.
April 30, 2009
1
i didn't know it. It tells about the real circumstances of women in pakistan. there is a lot of very interesting women poets in pakistan and i know there is quite material translated into english, so if you are interested in the subject you can easily afford some materials to deepen on this kind of social critic femenine poetry.
April 29, 2009
1
hey you two up their!say something nice esse!
its kind very deep for i see.when i read it it's something that i dont know how expalin regarding women how they sacrifice for lot of things..
April 29, 2009
1
emo
might become a hit if made into a song
April 29, 2009
hello jura,
the poem is good but it appears to me more of a riddle.....
I assume that the poet is depicting a "Newspaper" or "WOMAN Magazine" originated in Sydney Australia (just kidding...)
Maybe the poet speaks of his country and how it loves her people so much despite everything!
Please share me your thoughts also about this nice poem....
Thanks!
April 29, 2009
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Jura
Language Skills
English, French, German, Italian, Lithuanian
Learning Language
French, German, Italian
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