Myths and Promises for Brown Girls
by Aimen Ahson Hafeez
Runestone, volume 12
Courage is to have heart – from Latin ‘cor’
I will give you mine.
Some have unimaginably terrible fears – hark;
their girls who play too long in the summer sun – may become dark
Or worse; their girls dare choose a man they love. Blackened.
Their girls dare divorce a man they do not love. Karo Kari.
I take the girls to see the sun with wings of wax and feather
that do not melt, but red-hot glow
Our skin darkens, drinking sun as divined,
darkens to a fierce amber brown
The girls and I conquer all. Fair and lovely.
We bleach bigotry, cowardice, ‘honor’ and silence.
Tasting the sun as orphans with blistered tongues
Do not fear,
For we might not fall
Fear is to risk – from Proto Indo-European ‘per’
The heart is meant for risk, my dear,
And I will surely catch you if we fall.
Note : Karo-Kari is honor killings in urdu. Meaning blackened man/woman.
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Aimen Ahsan Hafeez
Texas State University
Aimen Ahsan Hafeez currently resides in Texas, she loves taking walks and collecting pretty rocks. She is a Texas State University graduate and studied mechanical engineering technology. Although not a liberal arts major, she loves poetry and hopes to keep writing for a long long time. This is her first journal publication; she is grateful and excited for the opportunity to share her work. You can find her other works on Substack under the pen name Word Mosaics!