Stolen Dreams

 Middle aged women, all unsatisfied with their lives

Instead of building their careers, they were forced to become become wives

That is what I see when I look around

Their wings cut off so that they would stay in the ground

Stick to the same old chores everyday 

Their dreams playing in their minds on replay

Years of sacrifice only to get treated with disrespect 

Expected to put up with everything and just accept their fate

Taught that they were weak from an early age

Taught that it was unacceptable to show their rage

I look at all these women, their eyes still so kind

Even though this society has always left them behind

I look at my mother, how she mimics people with so much ease

I cannot help but envision her acting in the movies

She had gotten many offers but her family was her captor

A single stare from her uncle and that was the end of that chapter

Then comes my mother's sister who has quite a stable job

But she could be so much more, it makes my heart throb

Forced to turn down promotions just because she wasn't born a male

While guys half as deserving got to take all the chances without fail

I was talking to my aunt, she's so efficient and smart

She just so happened to tell me how her father broke her heart

Wanted to be an airhostess so she went to him with a form

All her hopes left to die, as into half it was torn

Two sisters trying to take what is rightfully theirs

Their brothers fighting them so as to be the only heirs 

They said, " You are married daughters, how dare you demand the land?"

Ready to cut off all relations when everything didn't go as they had planned

I asked a woman that I really adore

If she wanted the same life for the daughters she bore

She looked terrified and strongly denied

She turned around and silently cried

Calmed down and explained to me what she had to face when she was defiant

It was then that I understood why most women chose to stay silent

But I look around again and I marvel at what I see

I look at the bold and powerful women who are currently surrounding me

I feel strong but gentle, fierce but compassionate 

Because I know I'm going to live in a world that WOMEN CREATE

WLEAD graduation