Challenging Poetry

Qatar: remember

when you see me—
if you see me,
a graceful shadow
slipping through desert
sunlight, silent and
covered so that the shape
of me disappears—

remember my voice
sweet and lamenting
until your heart bleeds
with the pain of it.

remember my words
wise and strong
penned with sure strokes
in my secret studies.

remember and never
make me less than I am.

Author's Note ▶︎

I think what struck me most in my research was that the women of Qatar are present in the poetry and the literature. There is a tendency in the west to paint the women of Islam as repressed and silenced, and maybe there is something to that, but it's also important not to judge a culture by another's standards. There is beauty and intelligence and strength in those women as well. And in this culture at least, there's the possibility of a public voice. And that's something special that is important to remember.