Crossroads

At the crossroad, I met an ocean of women

dejectedly carrying arduous loads

along shadows behind the curtains of history

at another crossroad I watched women

Who like shells mothering pearls

were hunted throughout the wasteland of time

robbed from the cradle to the grave

the sky burst into shreds, hitting me in the chest

and in pain I staggered on

I fled to another crossroad

where I discovered women with faces lively as the ocean

their eyes fierce, the sun piercing to the roots of trees

Maryam was born, the firmament was her house

the wind formed the walls, the windows had no blinds

the sun served as a nursemaid warming her soul

on the span of history we fondly shook hands

And so I walked alongside Maryam

I took her clothes to cover myself

I plastered her cornea onto the eyes of my soul

And I transferred her brains into the shell of my thoughts

then, casually, I sauntered by the crossroad

and dove effortlessly to the bottom of the sea.

By Abidah El Khalieqy

The poet lives in Yogyakarta. Her poems and short stories have been published in the Republika daily and Horison and Ulumul Qur'an magazines, and publications in Malaysia and Brunei.