This is a Letter to Your Beautiful Mind
from the scarfhead you glanced at
uneasily as you went past in the street today
the one you judged and dismissed
in the fraction of a second it took for your eyes
to transmit the image to your brain.
it is being written out of a weary kind of anger
because really i mean
it's only a scarf. Relax
the first response: go with your gut
i wear it because i want to. deal with it.
the second response: politics and the fine art of the reactionary
no i'm not oppressed no i don't come from iran no i'm not a fundamentalist
hey. Hey! I'm TALKING to you--
third response: the appeal to intellect by reason
my scarf, my resolve, my love achieved
after seventeen years of edging apologetically toward this
fringe
far out
Islamic
way of life
will command your respect: assert my right to dignity
over the insolent stare of disbelief, contempt, or pity
will declare with pride our name, out faith, our identity
will LIBERATE my SISTERS from becoming VICTIMS OF PATRIARCHAL SEXIST TYRANNY!!
...will keep my ears quite warm in winter, actually...
from Rahat Kurd