Hands so Noble:

Ode to a Chitrali woman
 

These hands so rough,
so very callus,
they cannot belong,
to a pampered princess,
adorned with scars
and marks and blisters,
who are these striving
and struggling sisters?
whose hands tell the story
of their effortful lives,
whose daughter's are they?
whose honorable wives?
carrying stacks of straw and wood,
as solidly as any man could,
feeding the goats,
herding the sheep,
hiking the mountains,
so arduously steep,
while I dwell,
in a comfortable house,
these hands are busy,
milking the cows,
or shaking the branches
of mulberry trees,
or picking apples,
and raspberries,
they weave and knit,
they sow and stitch,
firewood, they light,
and water, they fetch,
sometimes they plow,
some times they rake,
they clean and sweep,
they cook and bake,
each day is a challenge
so easily taken,
so strong are the hands,
of a Chitrali woman.
                      

Comment:  An excellent poetic expression of tribute to the unsung Chitrali woman. Where are you NGO's established in the name of women? -- Asif Ahmad, Chitral, 27 July 10