We Sinful Women
“Deep in the recesses of my heart
hangs a picture of myself.”
– Famida Riaz
I loved the pieces written by the feminist poets; some lines struck me so much that I wrote them down on pieces of paper and taped it onto my dorm room wall. Some of these quotes included, “The Sun has chosen me for company,” and “Deep in the recesses of my heart hangs a picture of myself.” I based this charcoal piece on the latter quote.
Until I took this class, I had no idea that traditions of the Middle East were so deeply rooted in the art of poetry, and that the poetry from these regions were crafted so beautifully. As translated poems as these are this lovely in English, I cannot imagine how skillfully woven they are in the original Urdu— it makes me understand why ancient wars used to be fought in the form of poems. (By the way, I think there is something beautiful about a people who come from wars fought with lines of poetry.)
This has come up in more recent readings, but I think in order to understand Muslims and stop the “othering” of people from the Middle East, we must recognize that the other has their own forms of art and expression, and that they are just as beautiful as ours, in familiar and unfamiliar ways. I think the arts and words (or artistic expressions of words) could be a way that people start to understand and imagine each other complexly, by first appreciating each other’s artworks and what the other finds beautiful. Once you start seeing the beauty in another’s prayer, you will hopefully start to see the other as a whole and individual person.
Adding to the beauty of the poems, I thought it was eery how much I could connect to the poems as a female reader. Although I could never fathom what it is like to live in such oppression, sadness and fear as the poets express, I could empathize with certain aspects of their laments or wistful sighs. For example, in the lines “Late at night, this eerie silence/ In this dimly dark pathway,/ with hurriedly advancing footsteps,/ I am a lone woman” I could recognize a familiar fear that I too have felt alone in dark streets late at night, a fear that many women have probably felt around the world. Although the feelings were much more intense than I have ever experienced or could imagine, I understood what it was like to feel scared because you know that you are a lone woman.
Other lines that I loved from the readings included:
“If a bead of sweat sparkles on earth’s blow
it is my diligence…
I am the companion of the new Adam
Who has earned my self-assured love.”
“There she goes, her hair billowing in the wind.
The daughter of the wind.
There she goes, singing with the wind.”
“…a beautiful gait
a false smile chiseled on your lips
you haven’t wept for years”