Poetry Came to Me From the Middle East

One of the things which has come from my role as the wife of a Soldier during war, has been the need to express all of the emotions and realizations that have come with my experiences during my husband's deployments.  I have always lived a very sheltered life, conscious of course that there were people suffering in the world, places where the freedoms and liberties I have enjoyed without earning them in any way, do not exist. I have remained untouched by these realities in my own life.  Being an American solely by the hand of Providence, I had never been personally required to make any sacrifices to protect and defend the precious privilege of the freedom of pursuit of my own destiny which is the heritage of every American, until my husband went to war.  Even then, I myself experienced no fear for my own life, or any fear of sustaining grave injury.  Never have I had to fear speaking my mind, or calling upon my government for fair and just treatment.  As I became acquainted through social media with people from different areas of the Middle East,our dialogue concerning the state of their lives changed me forever.  I found myself humbled by their courage and determination to facilitate the destiny of the ancient lands where they by Providence too were born.  I saw many images and photos of beautiful places, stark deserts, carnage, sorrow, grief and pain.  I saw too beautiful and intelligent faces, filled with joy, earnestness, honor, and courage.

Poetry began to flow from my heart in my efforts to process the realizations that came to my mind from the conversations, news, and images I encountered.  The poem below came to me after I read an article about several young Afghan women who were part of the Afghan Army, and training to be pilots.  There faces were so beautiful, their courage and determination so exposed in their countenances, and as I thought of all their commitment meant, words welled up inside of me. This is one of my favorite of the poems I have written.