gender – Poetry for Change

Thank you, administrators, for the accolade and your hard work.

Bound Butterfly

Though her wrists be bound
Their elegance and movement do astound
Their delicate strength holds life
In its tiny yet powerful softness rife

With rules: social, gender, political
That bind her moves further and dell;
Arms bound In chains as a butterfly rises above,
A symbol of fragility, metamorphosis, love,

Beauty that instigates the ability
To change, adapt into new environment, happily
Flitting through life knowing, knowing
Its beauty will soar from plain to crumbling

Mountains spreading knowledge,
Purity of heart, its muse for an adage
That’ll live on after the butterfly ‘s death
And the bound woman, but their breath

Filled with hope flies, like a kite,
Spreading harmony, that’s always bright.

©️ Malak kalmoni chehab ©️

My poetry book, Perfectly Flawed poetry for change, is available on all eplatforms including Amazon. It was on the finalist list for the Canadian Book Club Awards 2023.

https://www.amazon.ca/Perfectly-Flawed-poetry-Malak-Kalmoni/dp/1525582518

Who Are We?

How do you conceal who you are?

How many facets do you portray?

Do you change the way you dress daily?

Do you alter your hair and eye color?

Do you vary your tone, whisper, cry, or shout?

Do you add make up to accent different parts of you?

Are you an award winning actor playing a role?

Which part of you are most protective of?

The real you or the ones you show off?

I’ve said before, but I will say it again:

The crux of who you are is hidden for few to view

Who bask in your cheer, hope and self-esteem.

Of all the masks you’ve worn over time,

Which do you want to be ‘you’?

Is your identity a bricolage of family, friends, colleague,

Ethnicity, race, religion, and cultural ‘norms’?

What happens to the mask when the identity shatters?

Do you also fall apart, lose control, and spin like a top,

Unknowing what your next mask will represent?

It seems to me, after much consideration, experience

That who you are is reflected in your eyes,

Where your soul reaches out to impose its wisdoms,

In order for self satisfaction and acceptance to

Coexist in harmony with your favorite mask!