Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Landai for the soul

It is not revenge or hate that drives me,
But the love I feel when the sun begins to rise

The life I now lead
Will not dictate how my soul lives

One may look at me and think I am not worth much
But they don't know that I am gold purified by fire

Every inch of me is covered except my eyes
That way I can speak with more than my mouth

I came across this through Grace's post. Kenia's challenge today at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads is to write a bunch of landai. This is a form of poetry used by women in Afghanistan. The poems are only two lines for easy memorization, since only five out of 100 women graduate high school. This goes to show how important poetry and expression are. To read more or join in go here.

24 comments:

Amrit Sinha said...

This is an interesting form of poetry ... I too would love to try my hand on this form :-)

Pratibha said...

Liked the last one .. window to soul .. would be best to say for this post :)

Janine Bollée said...

Ooooohhhhh, these are good.
So very, very good.
You have the touch.
I want to 'borrow' them all, but will be discreet, and with your permission insert just this bit into my collection: "
The life I now lead
Will not dictate how my soul lives".

Sreeja said...

melodious landai....

Unknown said...

I am heartened by the hope in your voice.You have a way with words, a true poet.

Grace said...

Strong and powerful voice...I love the passion and love beneath the woman ~

Thanks for linking up with Real Toads ~ Amazing work ~

Kerry O'Connor said...

These are all so good, but the last struck me as most defiantly potent.

Laura Maria said...

Have at it! Where would the spirit of landai be if we didn't share? They're meant to belong to all of us!

Ella said...

Wow, your words say so much~
I love your interpretation of the prompt~
My favorite is:

"The life I now lead
Will not dictate how my soul lives"

Sherry Blue Sky said...

These are BRILLIANT! And perfect.

Kateri said...

Loved these...powerful lines!

Susie Clevenger said...

Love these..especially the last one!

Kay L. Davies said...

Beautifully done. I especially love "The life I now lead
will not dictate how my soul lives"!
K

Helen said...

.. 'gold purified by fire' ~ incredible imagery. Lovely landai.

Mary B. Mansfield said...

Amazing job with these! The last one is perfect.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Fabulous capture. I think you nailed how these women live. I have had a link on my blog to the article referred to in the NY Times since May when I began it because it spoke to me so deeply. Still can't bring myself to take it down...their voices should be heard.

Abin Chakraborty said...

wonderfully done.very sensitive.

Anonymous said...

Relevant. But the truth always is. Your piece was educational, too, as I'd not heard of this form.

Panchali said...

Never heard of this form of poetry. The last couplet says so much---beautiful :)

J Cosmo Newbery said...

Well done; a good use of the form.

Mary said...

Just beautiful, Laura!

You did well with the form.

This is my favorite:

The life I now lead
Will not dictate how my soul lives

ScottlB said...

Interesting form indeed and I really like what you did with it, the subject was excellent...

Serena said...

Beautiful job... each one knocks a hole in the soul and the last one knocks any wall all the way down. The first one, although beautiful and powerful also made me feel sad because I can understand why revenge might be a reason to live where they are... well done. And the last one is a testament to overcoming the restrictions any society can put on any one...

Audrey Howitt aka Divalounger said...

A wonderful write, and it makes me feel hopeful and sad for these women--