They say it’s the twenty-first century
the era of women’s freedom
with no fuss, no worries; you are just a free woman
They say:
now
you can live with no boundaries,
you can choose your love partners, your career,
and your kind of style with no judgment from society
They say:
you are free; you can speak your mind
you can lie on the moon if you want
even with your head full of clouds
colorful as the rainbow, still, you are free as a bird
But when I walk on the street
with my tennis bag on my shoulder
a tennis skirt around my waist
sunglasses covering my eyes
I feel unprotected from judgmental eyes
Still, when I dance on the dance floor
with a long flowing gown of velvety silk
like a willow next to a water stream,
they are staring at me
Some, with a look of adoration
Most, with the eye of unjust curiosity
They want me to sit down with my legs crossed to the side
my lips quiet
My stare, senseless
invisible, speechless
with my head down to listen to the noises around me
Still, when my mind intertwines the truth
describing my flaws,
the delicacy of my senses,
the warmth of my passion through the night in a piece of a poetry
They say:
You are a woman; you are free,
But
it would help if you were more modest
quieter
let us speak out on your behalf
Yet, when I walk the way I do, a gleam of sunshine slides along me
My laughter, free of shyness, tells a hundred stories of women before me
Yet, beneath the heavy sky,
Full of injustice and indifferences
arm to arm with my free soul
Undisturbed, unfearful
I conquer the world as the free woman I am.
Shahla Latifi
March 2022