If you could hold my heart
If we were green, human human
If you could hold my sadness
If I dissolved cloud cloud
And my hopes....
If we took the road, it's like in a dream
A tulle was covered with compassion,
It's not lament, it's hope.
Our daughters; Our girls, who are held by life and whose ideals are gifted to their way of life. Our daughters whose smiles are taken care of. On the other hand, our daughters, whose fathers, who received the birth news, swallowed the silence. Our girls whose children's eyes never shine, who are not given any rights other than breathing, whose smiles are cut off with their umbilical cords, who are unaware of their existence and who are foreign to their voices.
Our women who are held by life. Our people who happily embrace their female identity with the primary awareness of being an individual. Our women who, when necessary, can shout “I have to breathe, to continue”.
However, in many women's stories I have heard, there is neither a hand to hold on to nor an ideal. The most important thing they have embraced for many years is their patience, which is almost equal to a human life, and their acceptance of the so-called life that seems suitable for them. Regardless of the type of violence, how and why is this situation contrary to human nature tolerated? Does helplessness stop where belief in the future ends or does it stand next to the belief in the existence of insolubility?
Can a person grow up without being valued, valued, loved and hugged? How much can a seedling be sprinkled without watering? Why are self-growing seedlings called "crazy" in a dehydrated soil? Can't the creature be sweetened with its own juice?
Even if they were brought up without love, if those women know how to give their unconditional love, it means that they have the power to create themselves. The power to rebuild oneself, to be born to one's own potential. The power to hold the other hand with one hand and move on, even if it is not held by the hand.
Aside from being born human, it is possible to be human and remain human, by making an effort. By taking care of the one and only life we have been given. In this struggle, each of us will stand alone. Just like trees cling to the ground with their roots alone. What will happen if there is something that quenches our thirst and strengthens our weakness while we are on the road.
Let's walk together into the light. Let tomorrow be hope, not lament for women who are not held.
November/2020
Meltem Altinkaya