Afghan
By Jawed
Afghanistan, the origins of my home
Famous to the world, as a country prone to be war torn
But to my heart, a place I was proud to be born
A land blessed with resources,
that caught the eyes of western capitalistic vultures
From the plagued greedy souls of white men’s tyranny,
Hurting the innocent, along with the soul of the culture
Where hearing a murder or bomb blast,
Is desensitized as just another day on the news
As Afghani diasporas,
We are all responsible for healing our Motherland’s wounds
Our culture is precious, nurtured over a thousand years
Today, it is our responsibility to continue our culture,
With love joy and care,
to wash away the blood sweat and tears
Never shy away from your culture,
Or else you will be at a loss with your identity, leaving you feel cursed
As no matter what part of the world you are born or raised in,
You will always be an Afghani first
Western governments have always labelled our country as dangerous,
While doing dangerous things
They can try to blind the the world from the truth,
But the hearts of victims will forever sing
We must amplify the voices of the oppressed who are silenced
So they can no longer hide the violence,
As they try to impose fears
Warmongers have a dying soul,
When they feel nothing hearing the screams and tears
I refuse and stand against the image they try to impose on us,
Throughout the years
But when I look at Afghanistan
this is what I see,
I see the sweet children, who’re covered in dirt running with bare feet,
With spirits glowing brighter than the sun
Wishing that they can witness the true beauties of life,
Rather than poverty, bombs, and guns
I see brave Afghani women, the backbone of our nation,
Despite harsh conditions still carry on brave
The sacrifices for the safety of their children, us, the diasporas,
To carry on the name
To carry on respecting our mother’s hearts and remembering their pain
What could Afghanistan have been, if we never needed to run
I salute our brave mothers,
For they are the true soldiers, without ever needing a gun
I see brave Afghani men, and the cowards too
The good men keep Afghanistan in form,
The cowards use their guns doing the devil’s work,
While yelling Allah’s name through
And the western governments and their media,
Were all in on it too
The tyranny and greed of these men,
Blinds them from seeing the higher truth
That life and existence is a beautiful privilege,
And after this life,
We all have the Almighty we must answer to
As diasporas in the west,
We paid taxes to the same government that left our country prone
That is why, it is a grave mistake,
To ever turn away from our own
We were lucky to escape, and now from a place of privilege,
We are all capable to help
And if our people lose us,
They will be left with no one else
About: Jawed is an Afghan poet currently residing in Canada. He stays connected to his roots by raising funds for the education and needs of children experiencing poverty in the rural areas of Afghanistan.
Keep in touch with Jawed
Instagram @jawed_j.s
Cover Image by Sana Saidi