Heartlines

Dear Sir
I request, respectfully, that you listen to me.
I am young
I am female
I am Afghan
Now I realise I do not count because I was born in Afghanistan.
You said we could do it, we could be equal.
You said we could go to school.
You said you’d stand by our side.
Your words of encouragement and promises (now false) mean we will die slowly in history.
No one will remember the young girls who went to school, who learned their abc’s.
Who dreamt of becoming teachers, journalists,politicians.
Who believed it was possible to choose.
To wear summer dresses.
To let our hair shine in the sun.
To sing whatever song we chose.
To dance to the rhythm of our soul.
And today I have to hide who I have become
I have to hide my face.
I have to forget my dreams.
You will forget me, I will not count.
How will you write my history.?
I await your reply
Respectfully.

P.S.

But some of us will rise.
We will go on the streets and show our faces and our shining hair.
We will not go down quietly and disappear.
You may cut us down in our prime but others will take our place.
Stand in unity and SHOUT, SHOUT our needs.
We will embarrass you with our confidence
With our beliefs
With our strength
With our beauty.
We are woman
We are phenomenal woman.

Karen Byrne

Back to the International Women’s Day 2023 collection

Tonight, she weeps in sorrow
for all her lost dead boys;
all those who blindly follow
and believe their leader’s lies.

She’s the universal mother
and she’s black or white or brown;
but her sorrow knows no colour
when she wears a grieving-gown.

The hand that rocks the cradle
has never really ruled—
men assert that privilege
and men are easily fooled.

The price is paid by Woman
in terms of grief and blood,
raising boys for martyrdom
and girls for widowhood.

Bill Fitzsimons

Back to the International Women’s Day 2023 collection

Young, fresh-faced and Swedish,
she is the undisputed heavy-weight
in the fight for the soul of this planet.
A pint-sized activist, she began
her giant-sized journey into
the realm of green politics at the age
of fifteen and has never looked back.
Her fearless gaze has transfixed
politicians and climate deniers alike
and she has gathered the world’s young
to her cause. I too, though not young,
support that cause. In the face
of opposition, I believe she will triumph.
Perhaps her surname should be Thunderberg
for she has certainly created a storm.
Don’t give up the struggle, for you are
a truly phenomenal woman.

Bill Fitzsimons

Back to the International Women’s Day 2023 collection

Half-written on the sprawling page of Time,
my epitaph’s a process underway.
The pessimist would argue for decline
and say that all is tainted with decay.
Such people see the worst in all mankind;
no chink of light, no joy—indeed, no scope.
They never see the sunshine, they are blind
to anything that might resemble hope.
But I can feel redemption in the breeze
that blows and greets each newly-minted morn;
I take delight in mountains, birds and trees
and thank the Lord each day that I was born.
My epitaph will one day be complete—
until that time, the joys of life are sweet.

Bill Fitzsimons

Although I try to write my love for you,
the page, I fear, stays resolutely blank;
no message from my muse is getting through,
nor is it likely to, I must be frank.
Yes, writer’s block has been with me a while,
and so your praises must remain un-penned;
I cannot muster words to match your style,
or find the fancy phrases I intend.
If that’s the case, I shall relinquish love
and find some other theme to write about –
instead of staring at the stars above,
I’ll gird my bardic loins and conquer doubt.
The sonnet form (and love) I’ll leave alone,
and like a dog I’ll find another bone.

Bill Fitzsimons

COME BACK
Sometimes I wonder,
Where is Halley’s Comet now?
And who is she with?

CATERPILLAR
The caterpillar looks up to the sky
And thinks: Why can’t I be a butterfly?

Howard Benn