Status Updates From I Am the Beggar of the Worl...

“Be black with gunpowder or be bloodred
but don’t come home whole and disgrace my bed.”

“When sisters sit together, they always praise their brothers.
When brothers sit together, they sell their sisters to others.”

”Your eyes aren’t eyes. They’re bees.
I can find no cure for their sting.”

“Poetry - and especially love poetry - is forbidden to many of Afghanistan’s women: it implies dishonor and free will. Both are unsavory for women in traditional Afghan culture.”

Short landay poems from women in Afghanistan, often accompanied by explanations and unrelated b&w photographs from the region. Exposure to a foreign (for me) culture through common poetry is fascinating. The translations of these landays make them rhyme in English, so I’m always sad that I might be missing out on unique Pashto words and expressions. I wish the photographs had explanations.