Poem by guest writer Shahara Ahmed.

Beneath Thin Strings

Shahara Ahmed

I appear to be “lost”
beneath this veil
that masks my intelligence, personality
Beneath this veil
that reveals my sense in fashion, how modest I choose to be, how high I wear my hair
and
that I’m
Muslim.
Obviously.
Caught up
under cloth
covering emotion
beneath thin strings
thin.
strings.
growing older
the strings tighten
yelling for privacy
refusing to
let
a
single
strand
out.
Let your hair down, they say,
and I know exactly what they mean.
Like, literally.
I boldly refuse –
no, not letting my figurative hair
nor my literal hair
no, not letting myself down.