This is a Letter to Your Beautiful Mind

This is a Letter to Your Beautiful Mind 

from the scarfhead you glanced at 
uneasily as you went past in the street today
as you pretended to take aim and fire
as you scornfully called out go back to iran or
wherever
how old this is getting
i'd rather write about the sky

response #1: go with your gut, girl

i wear this for fun, actually.
it's a scarf. deal with it.

response #2: politics and the fine art of the reactionary

no, i'm not oppressed -
not a soldier of wrath - no, i'm not
patriarchy's last victim -
no, i do have rights -
i'm not a fundamentali -
hey. Hey! I'm talking to you -

response #3: the appeal to intellect through reason

I want someday
to manage the word God in a poem
without committing travesty

response #4: it's ironic

how what covers my hair
slows traffic
scares boys
stops ultraviolet rays
starts riots

keeps my ears warm in winter. 

by rahat kurd
copyright 1997

"You never understood me. You never really tried."- Kate Bush

This is a Letter to Your Beautiful Mind

	from Rahat Kurd

from the scarfhead you glanced at
uneasily as you went past in the street today
the one you judged and dismissed
in the fraction of a second it took for your eyes
to transmit the image to your brain.
it is being written out of a weary kind of anger
because really i mean
it's only a scarf. Relax

the first response: go with your gut
i wear it
because i want to. deal with it.

the second response: politics and the fine art of the reactionary
no i'm not oppressed 
no i don't come from iran 
no i'm not a fundamentali-
hey. Hey! I'm TALKING to you--

third response: the appeal to intellect by reason
my scarf, my resolve, my love achieved
after seventeen years of edging apologetically toward this 
fringe
far out
Islamic
way of life

will command your respect: assert my right to dignity
over the insolent stare of disbelief, contempt, or pity
will declare with pride our name, out faith, our identity
will LIBERATE my SISTERS 
from becoming VICTIMS OF PATRIARCHAL SEXIST TYRANNY!!
...will keep my ears quite warm in winter, actually...

 Back to Huma's Homepage on Islam ...


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