My Empowering Poem
Poetry is a beautiful way of advocating for change and expressing your emotions whether that is love, anger or even suffering.
When I was 15, I was already very passionate about equality and the struggles that women have gone through throughout the history of time, so I wrote a poem. Coincidentally, at the time there was a competition where you had to write about something that empowered you, I thought it was worth a shot to enter it. I actually got shortlisted for the finals, I didn’t win, but I was published!
We are Women
We rise from adversity
But we let our scars remind us
Of the prejudice, judgement and bigotry
That echoes through the halls of history.
Even when our legs get tied down
With the shackles and chains of society’s stereotypes
We push each other forward
Helping each powerful woman walk
We may have only moved an inch
But, to the young girls of future generations
It’ll be like we stepped past the moon and stars.
We will never be afraid to stand up for what is right,
Equal pay, equal opportunities and equal lives.
Malala never stopped when her hijab was drowning in blood;
And, Burnita Shelton Matthews
Who helped pave the way for girls to thrive in a male-dominated environment,
Never halted at a brick wall.
We have been screaming for decades.
Yet, no one has heard our cries
It’s just a gentle murmur in the background.
Ignored.
Women were designed to be admired
People say.
These words get etched into the clay-like minds of children.
But, we implore you to realise,
That women are fierce, determined and unstoppable.
We should never be held back by others’ forceful grip,
Or be put on a pedestal as a Russian doll,
Empty.
Only to be noticed by fleeting eyes.
As we are all equals in this imperfect world