‘Women Like Me’: a poem by Maram al-Massri
by Olivia Stransky / June 4, 2011 / No comments
Photo courtesy of Maram al-Massri
Last week, Syrian poet Maram al-Massri spoke to Sampsonia Way via Skype and discussed growing up in Syria, as well as the current Syrian uprisings.
She was born in Latakia, and after studying English literature at the University of Damascus, she moved to Paris in 1982. Since then, she has published several collections of poetry.
Below is a poem from her Red Cherry on a White Tile Floor.
Women Like Me
Women like me
do not know how to speak.
A word remains in their throats
like a thorn
they choose to swallow.
Women like me
know nothing except weeping,
impossible weeping
suddenly
pouring
like a severed artery.
Women like me
receive blows
and do not dare return them.
They shake with anger,
they subdue it.
Like lions in cages,
women like me
dream . . .
of freedom . . .
