Flesh of Women

by

Frank Valentyn

The flesh of women is holy
nay, not the flesh but the skin that covers it
nay, not the skin but the burqua that conceals it
nay, not the burqua but the paradigm that enfolds it
nay, not the paradigm but the spirit that enflames it
for that is godly and its command shall not be denied
within us

Therefore we stoned her flesh
and her Ph. D.
bloodied and broke the skin that covered it
unstained and unpolluted the concealing burqua
celebrated the enfolding paradigm
fuelled the inflaming spirit
fed upon the godliness inside us
denied all defence of the satanic

Thus, the rubbish that was left
torn and sundered by divine verdict
was left among the heap
vectors of shame and example
stones blessed by god
thrown by the prophet
unconcealed in our obedience
to the holiest call of all
within us

Truly, god shall teach them shame
for their vaginas
which gave birth to us
need more concealment than their product
their breasts which nourished us
drain holy fluid from those thus immunised
eyes which cleansed without question
our most intimate displays
may witness but not reflect
god resides not there
but commands public exposure
of the descending and fallen
and in the illumined flint we throw
lies avoidance of the light of Sheitan and Lucifer
welling final milk of love and kindness
fathomless within us
deep within our skin

Text below taken from an international petition:

Women in Afghanistan

The government of Afghanistan is waging a war upon women. Since the Taliban took power in 1996, women have had to wear burqua and have been beaten and stoned in public for not having the proper attire, even if this means simply not having the mesh covering in front of their eyes.

One woman was beaten to DEATH by an angry mob of fundamentalists for accidentally exposing her arm while she was driving. Another was stoned to death for trying to leave the country with a man that was not a relative. Women are not allowed to work or even go out in public without a male relative; professional women such as professors, translators, doctors, lawyers, artists and writers have been forced from their jobs and stuffed into their homes, so that depression is becoming so widespread that it has reached emergency levels.

There (is) no way in such an extreme Islamic society to know the suicide rate with certainty, but relief workers are estimating that the suicide rate among women, who cannot find proper medication and treatment for severe depression and would rather take their lives than live in such conditions, has increased significantly.

Homes where a woman is present must have their windows painted so that an outsider can never see her. They must wear silent shoes so that they are never heard. Women live in fear of their lives for the slightest misbehavior.

Because they cannot work, those without male relatives or husbands are either starving to death or begging on the street, even if they hold Ph.D.'s. There are almost no medical facilities available for women, and relief workers, in protest, have mostly left the country, taking medicine and psychologists and other things necessary to treat the sky-rocketing level of depression among women. At one of the rare hospitals for women, a reporter found still, nearly lifeless bodies lying motionless on top of beds, wrapped in their burqua, unwilling to speak, eat, or do anything, but slowly wasting away. Others have gone mad and were seen crouched in corners, perpetually rocking or crying, most of them in fear. One doctor is considering, when what little medication that is left finally runs out, leaving these women in front of the President's residence as a form of peaceful protest.

It is at the point where the term 'human rights violations' has become an understatement. Husbands have the power of life and death over their women relatives, especially their wives, but an angry mob has just as much right to stone or beat a woman, often to death, for exposing an inch of flesh or offending them in the slightest way.

Women enjoyed relative freedom, to work, dress generally as they wanted, and drive and appear in public alone until only 1996. The rapidity of this transition is the main reason for the depression and suicide; women who were once educators or doctors or simply used to basic human freedoms are now severely restricted and treated as sub-human in the name of right-wing fundamentalist Islam. It is not their tradition or 'culture', but is alien to them and it is extreme even for those cultures where fundamentalism is the rule.

Everyone has a right to a tolerable human existence, even if they are women in a Muslim country. If we can threaten military force in Kosovo (in) the name of human rights for the sake of ethnic Albanians, citizens of the world can certainly express peaceful outrage at the oppression, murder and injustice committed against women by the Taliban.

NEXT?
Why don't you look at Baby Boy Crying
by: Joyce Hemsley
from: Sunderland, England, UK

To visit all of Frank Valentyn's poems, click HERE

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