I Am A Woman

Roots to the stems to the growing bud

The bud bursts open and a flower it becomes

From the first drop of blood that her body purges

Hail the lady that within herself emerges

A petal over a petal like a rose

Draping her body is her bodice

Curves and angles the grace she gains

This sensual pleasure to ones gaze, Hide!

Her emotions are now in a full swing

Her desires and some urges gaining wings

Her growing pride kept in the silk

See what puberty to her brings;

Hush the overwhelming words!

Hush what these new desires spurt!

Hush the woman raising in her!

Hush this mere existence!

One step down and the other in mid air

I will dance until my feet wear

Let my arms guide the winds

Or let them fling in the air

My body sways from left to right

Let it flow with the ocean tide

Breathing in the freedom with pride

I am a woman what if no Aphrodite

Maham A. Shah

This is me in the picture enjoying my freedom to its fullest. Breaking the barriers which the society had bound me with. “I Am A Woman What If No Aphrodite”. The first three stanzas are about grace and beauty a female gains once she reaches her puberty. They see the the striking beauty of a woman which is now shaping out of a girl’s body. She is growing up. She is growing from within. Alongwith this ,along with her womanhood ,she is gaining confidence she is gaining pride. She comes out like a rose out of its bud ,a beautiful flower full of elegance. Once out of admiring the writer says to further see what puberty has done to her , at that very instant the barriers , the stereotypes, the hurdles ,our society, our social milieu ,in the way of a woman spring up and order the writer to hush up so that this newly becoming lady won’t break her reins . Don’t say these words, don’t praise her beauty so much. She is in a time where if these praises spoil her mind, she will gain pride in herself. At this tender time when the hormones are already playing with a girl’s emotions and mind , she can take any step out of these emotions. Don’t let her know about the woman, hush up!

The girl, desperate to jump in the pleasures of her new self, is eager to break the ropes binding her in her place of a little girl. She is eager to wear off those reins and while enjoying her freedom or imagining it declares herself a Woman at the end. What if she is no Aphrodite , as beautiful as her. What if she isn’t a goddess like her. She is a woman and that’s enough for her. She has been bestowed with this womanhood.