Maha Siddiqui
When she came out
The news given it was a girl
Another woman to put in the house
And lockup
Another mouth to feed
Another burden to the world
A girl
Not even a person
A thing
Something useless
At least they can get rid of her soon
Born a girl
They expect her to do work
God put her on this earth
To serve
No life
Nothing
She had dreams, hopes
Plans
Wanted an education
But she was told no
Rejected
For something so valuable
Its only for boys they told her
Because boys were angels
They could bring money
They were given a life
Unlike her
And she drooled for the thing she desired
An education
But soon she hits the age
And is considered dirty
And at night she sleeps
In a shack
Away from her family
And soon enough
The time has come
And she is married off
At only 15 years old
To a man she never knew
Far older
And over there
They treat her like an animal
As a slave
Not human
As a burden
Punishing with death
And she is told to work
Serve her husband and his family
Whom she barely knows
And at night
He forces her into things
She doesn’t want
And she’s screaming
And from the other room
You can hear her
Crying on her mat alone
On the cold floorWith a man
Who abuses her, assaults her, beats her
Yet no one comes
And she is alone
In the dark
Facing horrors every single day
Wishing for it to end
But she can’t leave
Because where would she go
Her family doesn’t need her
She is afraid
But she has hope
And sees her chance
And one night when she looks at
The glimpse of the moonlight shine through the cracks in the wall
She escapes
Walking alone in the lonely night till the bright morning
Hearing the car motors, and smelling the street food
The shouting vendors, and the walking school children
Seeing it for the first time
A new world
Her eyes lit up
And she sees the school
She touches for the sky
And prays for an education
Then turning towards the road ahead
She sees her life
And she walks away knowingThis is just the beginning