Ramma Cheema, the founder of the multiple award-winning social impact organization Beti, works to empower women and girls throughout Pakistan via a myriad of far-reaching and impactful projects.
Her work often brings her across instances where she and other females are overwhelmed by circumstances and find themselves psychologically and physically trapped. Over the years, she found solace in the quiet power of poetry, and shared the following poignant poems with ProPakistani.
Her first poem is about how a female, who is essentially and inherently strong, has many roles to play, but she is forced, bullied, and abused into becoming what a patriarchal society wants to stereotype her into. Eventually, she finds her strength in her mind and breaks free, and is reborn like a phoenix from the ashes.
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She is brave,
She is strong.
Titles gone all wrong.
What you see
Is yours to own.
The box you built
Leaves her torn.
Her life ticks and tocks
Day and night;
Emotions on rocks.
Blood boils in her head;
Heart heavy, needing rest.
You bully, you take.
You kill, you rape.
Let her live.
Let her breathe.
She shuns your titles,
Breaks your shackles.
Her wings emerge;
Takes mighty flights in happy swings.
On her own now;
Free mind and free soul,
With her spirit ablaze
Her life begins.
Her second poem, Mai, Ni Main Kinnu Aakhaan?, stems from her experience as the mother of a son and explores the often debilitating filial sense of duty that numbs and mutes a person.
Mai, Ni Main Kinnu Aakhaan? (Mother, Whom Do I Tell?)
Raw and bloodied;
Only a small boy.
Claws that clutch
His innocence, his ruin;
The feast of the devil.
He will not say.
He must not.
He is his mother’s savior.
His sister’s warrior
Stand tall, my beloved.
Be my shelter,
Earn my bread.
Skin that burns now,
Hands that tremble.
Crevices of the heart;
Those are now cracked.
Seep in guilt,
Seep in shame.
Devour me.
Ammi, who do I tell?
Mai, ni main kinnu aakhaan?
Editor’s Note
People around the world have experienced varying types and levels of trauma on personal and national levels. While we cannot ignore how hard things have been during the pandemic, expressing how anxiety, stress, trauma, and depression have affected us is one of the bravest things we can do.
One way to deal with them is to express them through the arts and poetry. Poetry, in particular, allows people to find solace, and articulate and distill emotions and difficult experiences into curated expression. Besides being cathartic and therapeutic for the writer, poetry also bonds people closer together with its permeability, which can, in turn, lead to recovery and growth.
Poetry helps us realize that we are not singled out by our suffering but are brought into the shared lives and experiences of all who have lived and died before and with us. It helps to perpetuate an arc of thinking, connectedness, and even internal healing.
About Ramma Cheema
Ramma Cheema is a media and advocacy expert with 10 years of experience in several fields. She is currently a TV anchor for PTV in Lahore, for two shows that she curated and hosts – Smart World and Hashtag.
What do you think of her heartfelt poems? Let us know in the comments below.
Always remarkable work by Ramma.
Leaves one thinking how humans have still come out of gender bias and it makes you sad. Written straight from the heart , makes one wonder of what we ate doing to add value in society.