This is a poem written by the martyred Meena (1956-1987). An advocate for women rights in Afghanistan and a powerful voice for social activism and who spoke out against the Russian Occupation.
Meena was the founder of RAWA which endures to this day as a beacon of hope for Afghani women.
Meena was assassinated by agents of KHAD (Afghanistan branch of KGB) in Pakistan on February 4, 1987.
To read more about Meena and RAWA go to www.rawa.org/meena.html

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I'll Never Return

I'm the woman who has awoken
I've arisen and become a tempest among the ashes of my burnt children
I've arisen from the rivulets of my brother's blood
My nation's wrath has empowered me
My ruined and burnt villages fill me with hatred against the enemy.
I'm the woman who has awoken,
I've found my path and will never return.
I've opened closed doors of ignorance
I've said farewell to all golden bracelets
Oh Compatriot, I'm not what I was
I'm the woman who has awoken
I've found my path and will never return.
I've seen barefoot, wandering and homeless children
I've seen henna-handed brides with mourning clothes
Ive seen giant walls of the prisons swallow freedom in their ravenous stomach.
I've been reborn amidst epics of resistance and courage
I've learned the song of freedom in the last breaths, in the waves of blood and in victory
Oh Compatriot, Oh brother, no longer regard me as weak and incapable
With all my strength I'm with you on the path of my land's liberation.
My voice has mingled with thousands of arisen women
My fists are clenched with the fists of thousands of compatriots
Along with you I've stepped up to the path of my nation,
To break all these sufferings all these fetters of slavery,
Oh compatriot , Oh brother, I'm not what I was
I'm the woman who has awoken
I've found my path and will never return.