#mahsaamini

Today
I want to be loud and
clear and round
like an O or
hold my gun
like an R and
live in Revolution

I ask the words
as I chant them
to slip into curves and folds
of my body and
rise with me

Today
I’m as woman as possible
here’s my hair, look!
sometimes I wear it down
sometimes up

Now give my country back
She’s been fighting
for 14 days
I mean 43 years
She must be tired

 

 

Mariam Saidan is a Specialist Advocate for Women’s Rights and has worked as a Children’s Rights Advocate, studied Human Rights Law at Nottingham Universality and Creative Writing at Kent University. She was born in London, and has lived in Iran, France, and the UK. She wrote her first journal at 8 years old while travelling with her family in Iran during the Iran-Iraq war. Her recent most publications can be found at Beyond Words, The Bombay Review and Literally Stories.