INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2014

Dedicated to women Everywhere.

It isn’t my gender that makes me write
It’s that I want to be a defender of women’s rights
Of humanity too: particularly the oppressed.
We are not few who pursue this quest.

Me and the Deity

Me and the Deity, we’re OK
I talk to my God every day.
God knows my downfalls, the secrets I keep
Thoughts, problems confessions locked in so deep
They weigh so heavily like sunken stone
Shame me and pain me if left alone

I can shrug of misdemeanour and those stray bad thoughts,
The ‘f’ word I used that silence I brought
When I accused God of bringing disease, diversity and some good.
God forgave me. As only she could.

Margaret Rowland

Malala Yousefsai deserves to be recognised for her bravery. So do many, but she has my wholehearted admiration. This is dedicated to her. Spoken through a parent's eyes.

Malala Yousefsai
I named her
My daughter
After poetess and warrior.
She grew
In our home
with her family
no barrier
absorber of knowledge
Spokeswoman for education
at eleven
Challenged
the deranged idea
that women should remain
chained
by those who feared change
at home
with a womb
and children.
Malala is proud
To be Muslim
A Sunni
Eager to learn
be useful
Attend school.
her destiny was
to catch a bullet.
How she lived is a mystery
The rest will be history.

Margaret Rowland