Open Cage
A poem by Sharifa Ahmadi
Some women only have half freedom living in their parents’ house
Obstacles of society take the other half
Freedom is not about food or clothes
In most Afghan families
Women get married
Lose the other half of freedom
There’s no difference between wife and servant
Whatever order given to a wife
Like a robot she must obey
No one cares whether she is human or not
No one cares whether she also loves
Living with freedom
Everyone forgets about her needs
Her life is like living
In an open cage
Put a bird in a cage
With its favorite food and water
But it is not happy
Like a wife the bird prefers
Freedom
Which is not being caged
For some wives
Dead is better
Than living like a servant!
About the Author: Sharifa Ahmadi is from Bamyan, Afghanistan. She recently graduated with her MS in Mathematics from a university in India. She wants to raise her voice through her writing on behalf of women who live in many difficult places.
