Dark Flower (CTG)

[Christopher T. George]

Dark Flower

Poet Nadia Anjuman was beaten to death, and
her husband and mother have been arrested.
--Afghan Service Center News, Nov. 8, 2005

She spoke out in U.S-liberated Afghanistan,
but the old ways drowned her out:
women must submit to men.

Dark Flower angered her family;
poems about love and beauty
written by a woman bring shame.

Women who put their faith
in love and beauty
are brought to heel with stones,
whips and chains.

Just like the statues of Buddha
blown up by the Taliban---
Too much beauty angers God.

"All we are breaking is stones."

Christopher T. George


Nadia Anjuman (1980? – 4 November 2005) was an Afghan poet and journalist and author of Gul-e-dodi ("Dark Red Flower"). Her husband reportedly confessed to battering her, following an argument, but not to killing her. It was reported that she died as a result of injuries to her head.

[Sherry]

Chris,

That is a beautiful tribute. While I am not familiar with her
poems, I can imagine that the irony may be that she was writing,
at least in some of them, about her love for her husband.

Sherry

[lizzytysh]

This is such a moving piece, Chris, for the contrast it brings in the clash of cultures; and the irony of worship as the destroyer of love and beauty.

This poem also speaks to the impetus and importance of the movements of recognition, such as International Women's Day that are inclusive of very real efforts to bring about 'equality' in the most basic of rights, such as to be able to write about love and beauty, and remain honoured and safe; and to not have to endure society-sanctioned violence perpetrated by those [your betrothed and your family] whose relationship with you ought to be one of love and protection and never violence. This would be a fitting poem to be read at an International Women's Day celebration, to remember and honour who was killed for being herself and, like a deep red rose, sharing her many, beautiful facets. These are crimes against humanity.

Thanks so much for sharing your tribute poem. I remember hearing about Nadia Anjuman's death.


~ Lizzy

[Christopher T. George]

Thank you for your kind words, Sherry and Lizzy. This particular poem was published on-line in Mindfire Renew where you can read other poems and tributes to Ms. Anjuman including translations of her works. Go to

http://www.mindfirerenew.com/issue5wint ... nadia.html

Incidentally, the final quote in my poem, "All we are breaking is stones", is a quote from one of the Taliban leaders that he said to justify the Taliban's destruction of the ancient statues of Buddha.

Chris

[lizzytysh]

Incidentally, the final quote in my poem, "All we are breaking is stones", is a quote from one of the Taliban leaders that he said to justify the Taliban's destruction of the ancient statues of Buddha.

Even though the human life outvalues that of so-called stones, the potential for this kind of destruction has deeply concerned me in all of the conflicts. I was relieved to hear that the zoo in Baghdad has not been touched by violence, and that the citizens have come together to upgrade its conditions on behalf of the animals.

With the mosques and other historical buildings and symbols, there is something that is so diabolical to me to destroy centuries-old buildings that have stood strong in full innocence across time as links from one generation and century to the next and the next and the next, since they were built. The craftsmanship in them is unparalleled. When they are destroyed, so much of the beauty of the culture itself is destroyed.

It's not that I would prefer the buildings be spared and the people not. I just can't comprehend why they can't be preserved, even in the midst of conflict. Granted, people take refuge there... and some of these people are the direct targets of the enemy. Still, there seems something so inherently wrong about it all, as these are NOT "just stones." They are sacred spaces that have brought comfort to the people for whom they are significant... and they are being destroyed during times that this comfort is most needed.


~ Lizzy

[Christopher T. George]

Hi Lizzy

I think part of the tragedy of Iraq is that life has become valueless, let alone stones or architectural treasures. I've just read a review of the new movie about Rwanda, "Beyond the Gates" starring John Hurt as a Catholic priest, and the statement was made that after a while people became so used to the killings that each murder became "just another dead African." And I am afraid it has become the same way in Iraq -- "just another dead Iraqi." The trouble is that the Sunnis hate the Shiites and vice versa to the extent that life becomes valueless and any atrocity is justified and condoned. This is also a tragedy for the West because, due to the misinformation spread by the Bush administration, most Americans probably think it is really a war against terrorists who want to tear down the West. While that is true to some extent, the real fight in Iraq which causes the majority of the deaths and suffering is a war within Islam and this is little understood by westerners.

Chris

[lizzytysh]

I'm sorry that I have no choice but to agree with what you're saying, Chris. Prior to "Operation Shock & Awe" , we engaged in highly contentious exchanges here. Every named 'campaign' since then has left me with the same feelings as I had initially, only stronger with each one. It's so true that the lives have become "valueless" and I've not seen much value placed on the lives of the Iraqis to begin with... just excuses for why they're dead.


~ Lizzy

[mat james]

The trouble is that the Sunnis hate the Shiites and vice versa to the extent that life becomes valueless and any atrocity is justified and condoned.

Do you think Saddam may have understood this?
Did women have more rights in Iraq under Saddam than under other Islamic governments?

Perhaps if these wars were about the "rights of women" we wouldn't mind them so much. At least it may be said to be a war with a noble cause.
It is a shame that I hear of Nadia's poetry because of "brutality".

[Sherry]

Hi Chris,

I was going to mention "All we are breaking is stones." in my
earlier post but I decided to wait and see it it came up.

Your irony was not lost. If they really believed that all they were
breaking was stone, then there would not be much point in going
to the effort of breaking it. Clearly, they were breaking the Buddha's
because of their powerful symbolic value. Just as many communist
paintings and status were destroyed after the end of the Cold War,
and paintings and statues of Saddam Hussein were destroyed during
the second Gulf War. In the latter cases, these artifacts were either
symbols of power or of outright oppression, depending on one's
perspective. In the case of the stone Buddhas, your addition of
that line ties together nicely the link between the poet, her work,
her death, Buddha and love.

Sherry

[lizzytysh]

If they really believed that all they were breaking was stone, then there would not be much point in going to the effort of breaking it. Clearly, they were breaking the Buddha's because of their powerful symbolic value.

Exactly... and their statement merely one of further degradation.

I like your synopsis of the tie-in that Christopher has made with that quote, Sherry.


~ Lizzy

[Christopher T. George]

Hi all

I read an editorial preceding this last war in which the writer -- it may have been columnist David Ignatius, I'm not sure -- said that the culture in Iraq is one of death whereas that in the United States is one of hope and optimism. He thus felt that Iraq would be unchanged by the upcoming war whereas the United States would be. And yet it is the symbols of Iraq that have been torn down, the big statues and pictures of Saddam Hussein and the blowing up of the mosque at Samarra. American symbols such as the Star-Spangled Banner, tie a yellow ribbon and the myth of American invincibility largely untouched by the war, as indeed the whole country remains little changed by what has been happening in Iraq.

Chris

[lizzytysh]

Hi Chris ~

. . . as indeed the whole country remains little changed by what has been happening in Iraq.

I've listened to commentary on this, and in major ways this is true; however, for many who were in support of the war, their hearts haven't remained unchanged. There are a number of Americans today, who were gung-ho previously, and who now feel deeply saddened by the death reports they see and hear every day. Some are those they know or know of through others; and some are Iraqis... as there are some who really do care about the lives of the Iraqis. These, I would have to guess, are sadly far fewer than those who care only about the lives and deaths of the Americans.


~ Lizzy