# data[].attributes.body
Conditional love a mother to a daughter
Unable to love so why bother
You are a clumsy little harami
This is my reward for everything I endured
The world been so cruel revolve around men
So they treat they daughter as their sin
No sympathy or empathy lies turn into insecurities
Believe this is what life suppose to be
Send them off at a young age while their sons are safe
Young kings growing up to scheme
The abuse is recycle no female idols
Lalia became the best mother she could be inspiring her daughter to be more than house bound the cycle is broken unconditional love is provided giving her daughter guidance in a world where there bias guidelines
Taylor Phillips
Pgs1-4 315-320

# data[].attributes.body
The grief kept surprising her.
Pebble 1
The baby came to life.
She could hear it go.
Grief washed over her.
Swept her up,
Tossed her upside down,
In such a crippling manner.
Pebble 2
And underserved blessing .
She was being punished.
The anger.
It was his fault.
It was God’s fault.
It was her fault.
Pebble 3
A change had come over.
Ate, smoked, went to bed.
He sulks.
Not like he used to.
Unmindful of her.
Pebble 4
Burial,
For the baby.
Few prayers.
Nothing more.
Trying not to forget.
Mark this loss.
Makes her feel better.
“In the name of Allah and with Allah
And in the the message of Allah
Upon the blessings and peace of Allah.”
He says “Shut up”.
Pebble 5
Shifting moods.
Punched, Slaps,Kicks.
Blood.
By: McKenzie Givan
Pages 92-99

# data[].attributes.body
Such vile intentions so eager to dishonor
I ask that you avoid leaving the house
without my company,
When we are together wear a burqa
Anything you need done ask Mariam she will do it for you
Demands and Judgments rained down on them like the rockets on Kabul
Pg. 222-224
Tamara Bryant

# data[].attributes.body
Only on Thursdays jalil visited
Mariam understood it was a
Sin to be a harami
Mariam did not feel legitimate love or acceptance
Malik called marium
His little flower
Maruim would admire jalil
Beloved father
she happily loved jalil
Mariam went to see jalil kahn
Confusion and Anticipation
Jalil says take you back
Tearing up she ran
"I used to worship you”
You’re ashamed of me
Don’t come see me, ever
Jalil looked wounded
It ends here, bye
"Mariam Jo”
(Pg 1-55 Lauren B)

# data[].attributes.body
A family caught in the fireball
The rubble pressed against her chest
A gravestone, a final blissful rest
The rubble, a pillow
To suffocate your sorrows
A rest, groggily awoken
Then you realize the strokes of fate
A piece of metal, an augment, a memorial
The pain, the confusion of being irate
Your life, undergone a perestroika
You come out confused and scathed
No rubble to filter the pain
You realize your parents peculiar fate
A tightened chest
The encircling bandages to fix what was broken
And you break out in tears
Fearing the rubbles embrace
oliver sima

# data[].attributes.body
Oblivious to the sin she had comminted
The shame set in
The clock ticked on
Impossibly loud
Like a judge’s govel
Pounding again and again
"Come with me” he said,
She almost believed it could be done
To set out together
And cleanse their souls
Leave all The violence behind
And to face everything
That came their way this time
They could be together
"I want to marry you”, laila

# data[].attributes.body
Rasheed was back in the
living room. He yells
"Get up Come here Get up".
Rasheen snatched her hands
and dopping a handful of pebbles.
"Put these in your mouth" he said.
Mariam looked at him crazy telling
him to stop and then shovin the pedals
into her mouth as he told her to chew
she did while crying. "Now you know
what this rice taste like
and what you're giving me in this
marriage, bad food and nothing else".
Rasheed was going he was gone while Mariam
was spitting out Pebbles and blood.

Pg 103-104
DaNajia Ellison

# data[].attributes.body
She thought longingly
All the summers that past
Her and Nana together
Sleeping on the roof
Looking at the moon glow
The night so hot
Clinging to their chest
Was their shirts
Like a wet leaf on a window
Missing the winter
Reading in the kolba
The clinking of icicles
From tree to roof
Crows cawing outside
She passed restlessly
Missing her mother
Emmanuel
(Pg.57)

# data[].attributes.body
In Aziaz’s arms, burying her face
half-bewildered, like never before.
Love had never been declared to her;
so unreservedly .
Aziza made Mariam want to weep,
a true connection.
She always hoped for someone safe.
Quivering anxiety, Mariam flinched.
In Aziza’s lap, cheerlessly again,
no longer fighting, sick of fighting.
She was safe;
with safety came a silence
Danielle B.
Pages 252-256

# data[].attributes.body
She could see babi in
The living room stacking boxes
Of books atop each other.
She headed to the taxi when suddenly
She thought of a dream. The beach.
The wind. The dunes. Now the singing
Sands were all around
growing louder and louder by the moment.
Higher and higher.
It flooded her ears
Drowning out everything else
the sands, screaming now.
Like a tinkling. No not a
tinkling. No. A whistling.
Behind her a flash of _______?

By: Joseph Dix

# data[].attributes.body
“Her beauty was the talk of the valley
It skipped two generations of women
But it sure didn’t bypass you, Laila”
When school let out Mammy wasn’t there
Laila wondered why Mammy even bothered to have her
Sometimes Mammy has good days
Once, she got to hear Mammy speak affectionetly of Babi
She even bakes on her best days
Lailas favorite parts are when Babi comes home
“I need to speak to you parents, dokhtar Jan”
Laila peeked from the top of the stairs
Babi’s face was white
Mammy was screaming, screaming, tearing her hair out
Laila drew Mammys hand into her lap
It was hard to really feel Mammys loss
It was Tariqwho was real, flesh and blood

Jacob Horner

# data[].attributes.body
Smoking in the doorway
Springs creaked
Moment of hesatation
Looking at his moonlight profile
Clenched the sheets in a fistful
"I cant”
Pain sudden and astonishing
Shivering
Smelled of tobacco
Rolled over panting
No shame in this
Leaving her
Wait out the pain down below
Frozen stars in the sky
Face of the moon
That night
-Laiba Arfan
Pages 76-77

# data[].attributes.body
You’re a show off.

Give me a cigarette.

No.

Why not?

Bad for you.

And it’s not bad for you?

I do it for the girls.

What girls?

They think it’s sexy.

It’s not.

No?

I assure you.

Not sexy?

You look khila-

like a half-wit.

That hurts.

What girls anyway?

You’re jealous.

I’m indifferently curious.

You can’t be both-

I only have eyes for you.

-shyanne padgett
p. 169-170

# data[].attributes.body
She thought longingly
All the summers that past
Her and Nana together
Sleeping on the  roof
Looking at the moon glow
The night so hot
Clinging to their chest
Was their shirts
Like a wet leaf to a window
Missing the winter
Reading what they did in the kolba
The clinking of icicles
From tree to roof
Crows cawing outside
She passed restlessly
Missing her mother
(Pg.57)

NO NAME!

# data[].attributes.body
It was April
April 17
April 17, 1978
He was killed
The prominent Communist was killed
Mir Akbar Khyber was found
He was murdered
Fariba was talking about it
The neighbors were talking about it
The radio was talking about it
Everybody was talking about it
Except Rasheed
Mariam wants to protest
She cannot
Then the marching
The marching to the government district
Kabul’s government district
10,000 people were marching
Protesting against the suppressive government
Mariam wishes to protest, too

- Yogi Parmar
Pg. 97-98

# data[].attributes.body
She saw nana
Dangling
At the end of
The rope
So they buried
Her
In the corner of the
Cementary. They
Kept asking
Anything?
Anything?
But she said
Nothing. Go on
And cry.
There is no
Shame
In it
But Mariam could
Not hear comfort in
Words.

~Diego Gonzalez (pg.34-36)

# data[].attributes.body
Laila could see babi in
The living room stacking boxes
Of books atop each other.
She headed to the taxi when suddenly
She thought o a dream. The beach.
The wind. The dunes. Now the singing
Sands were all around
Growing louder by the moment.
It flooded her ears.
Drowning out everything else
The sand, screaming now.
Like a tinkling. No not a
tinkling. No. A whistling.
Behind her a flash of white light.

By: Joseph Dix

# data[].attributes.body
Ah How beautiful is Kabul
encircled by arid mountains
and Rise
My song exhalts her dazzling tulips
May Allah protect such beauty from the evil eye of man
Every street of Kabul is enthralling to the eye
through the bazaars, caravans of Egypt pass
One could not count the moons.
the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls
Her laughter of mornings has the gaiety of flowers
Her nights of darkness, the reflections of lustrous hair

Jamari Buggs
page:16

# data[].attributes.body
This baby, her baby
No bigger than a fingernail.
Her life washed away
Then there was blood
"Isn’t it normal?”
She wanted away
A better answer
Than God’s will.

Thinking of the
Unfinished crib,
She was envious
Of neighborhood women
And their children
Who had not bled away.
Mariam resented.
She was to blame.
Mariam would kneel
And pray for forgiveness.

Mariah Finley pgs. 80-85

# data[].attributes.body
The sound of the lock,
Rattling as it turned.
The slow, heavy footed movement,
The noisy breath,
His harsh, raspy voice,
His sly cheerfulness,
His watery, bloodshot eyes,
Fingernails of rotten apples.
The face of my husband.
The wall were bare,
Drawers Ill-fitted,
Chipped, wooden spatulas,
The would be instruments of my life.
Feeling uprooted,
An intruder on another’s life
Her new life
With “the shoemaker”

-Link Williams

# data[].attributes.body
Then he let go of my hand
Now standing
In front of me
Soon covering my eyes
Pushing me back
"Go back, turn around"
I was told
But he wasn't fast enough
I saw everything
The wind blew
Drooping branches
Like a curtain
Catching a glimpse
From beneath the tree
Straight backed chair
A rope dropping
Nana dangling

~Abeni Talley

# data[].attributes.body
Pg: 141
Mammy’s mind filled with darkness
Day After Day
Consumed by pain and depression
Watching her mental state get worst and worst
Chest pains, Night sweats
Nothing works not even the doctors
Days of being lose
Your mind playing tricks
Happiness is extinct in her mind
Laying in bed, worrying about something imaginary
Wearing black
Staying in bed
Living a miserable life
Not caring at all
The Darkness paralyzing her every thought
Maybe she was always depressed
Ever since she had me

By: Jordan Hayes

# data[].attributes.headline
Their Relationship                                               Together the chores were done,                                Though quite like a mouse Sitting in the kitchen,                   Rolling dough and chopping to bits,                                      Given to Aziza layered in bits of clothing,                                                    Suspicious of each other they were,                               Keeping a close eye on one another,                         Knuckles bumping scrubbing shirts and wet diapers, Growing accustomed to the companionship,                       As if it were normal,                                                      Eager for three cups of chai,         Mariam and Laila shared the yard,                                Through the mornings mariam found herself,                   Happy to hear the sounds of Laila’s slippers,             Slapping across the floor to breakfast.                                                                  Morgan Tingle, Page 251

# data[].attributes.subject
Their Relationship                                               Together the chores were done,                                Though quite like a mouse Sitting in the kitchen,                   Rolling dough and chopping to bits,                                      Given to Aziza layered in bits of clothing,                                                    Suspicious of each other they were,                               Keeping a close eye on one another,                         Knuckles bumping scrubbing shirts and wet diapers, Growing accustomed to the companionship,                       As if it were normal,                                                      Eager for three cups of chai,         Mariam and Laila shared the yard,                                Through the mornings mariam found herself,                   Happy to hear the sounds of Laila’s slippers,             Slapping across the floor to breakfast.                                                                  Morgan Tingle, Page 251

# data[].attributes.body
It’s the whooping.
Rasheed raised the
belt and came to
Mariam.
Laila grabbed his
Arm and dragged
him down.
Rasheed, no
Beating!
Rasheed trying to
shake Laila off
staring at Mariam.
Mariam knew there
Would be no
beating that night.
Pg. 216

Trekyia C.

# data[].attributes.body
When Aziza first spotted Mariam,

she thrust her arms towards her,

demanding to be held.

Love declared,

so guilelessly,

so unreservedly.

Buried her face

into Mariam’s neck.

Mariam bounced her stiffly,

but has never before been wanted

like this.

“Why have you pinned your little heart to an
old, ugly hag like me?”

But Aziza only muttered contentedly

and Mariam swooned,

eyes watered,

heart took flight.

After all these years,

she had found in this little creature

the first true connection.

Indira White p. 226

# data[].attributes.body
The first few days
Mariam hardly escaped
The only thing that
Woke her is
The calling of god
Waiting for her outside
Her cage of disparity is a monster
You can hear his utensils
Clicking and dropping against each other
Suddenly the noise stops ears out
You can feel and hear the wind gushing
The monster flys away
Feeling scared
Goosebumps run down her arms
Left alone in shock

By:Erik gatica pg.62

# data[].attributes.body
Among the pain
Rasheed hands me pink pills
Which were the hospitals
The pain were intense
Crying out names
Weeping in my sleep

Among the pain
Times I weren’t agitated
There were blackness
Like sullen eyes under a blanket
I went rigid when it came to eating

Among the pain
There we scrapes big as my hand
Cuts on my leg
Gashes on my forearm
Cuts on my neck

Among the pain

Pgs 199-201

# data[].attributes.body
His hand on her neck
shivers down her spine
I can't
she said
he can
his moonlit figure spoke
under the blanket
working his belt
now on top of her
she let out a whimper
astonishing sudden pain
wide eyed at the ceiling above
moonlit
quick breathes on her shoulder
finished
he rolled off her
they lay for awhile
moonlit
room now empty
the pillow left with an impression
waiting out the pain
from down below
frozen-
left in a room
moonlit
By: Bella Hughes

# data[].attributes.body
The girls mouth quivered
she closed her eyes
swallowed
dug her out from beneath the rubble
murmured in her sleep
cried out
called out names
wept in her sleep
breathing out short answers
she went rigid
long bouts of weeping followed surrender
cuts on face and neck
forearms and legs
did little but sleep

by: ansley mills (page.199-200)

# data[].attributes.body
A ball of rice
Chewed once, then twice
You’ve done it again
Her hands were shaking
Dread pressed down on her chest
He snatched her hand
Filled it with pebbles
Powerful hands clasped her jaw
Cold, hard pebbles forced into it
Chew
Mumbling with plea
Tears leaked from her eyes
Teeth break
Spitting out pebbles and blood
That’s what your rice tastes like
Pg. 103-104
Sophia chappell
P 2

# data[].attributes.body
Do you know who I am?
Her eyes fluttered
Her mouth quivered
"This ear," the girl breathed
I can't hear
I took her back home
The girl did little but sleep
She murmured in her sleep
She cried out
Called out names
That I did not recognize
Lucky for you
I dug you out
With my own hands
She was still in pain
Laila didn't feel lucky

Pages 211-212
By: Brett Patrick

# data[].attributes.body
The girl had fits of
Laughter when the baby
Passed gas. Look! Shes
reaching for the rattle.
How clever she is. Watch
how she laughs when
I
snap my fingers
Rasheed would grunt,
And go back to his plate.
The strange thing was,
the girls fall from grace
Ought to have pleased
Mariam,
But it didn’t.
Mariam
found
Herself pitying
the girl

Matthew Francis
Pg 238-239

# data[].attributes.body
Tariq knew this
He knew she could not wipe away
The obligations
Of her life
Though it was the same with him
But on this went
His pleadings
Her rebuttals
His proposals
Her apologies
His tears
Along with hers
In the end though
Laila had to make him leave

By Gabriel Greenbaum  pg. 184