I will never see snow:
falling light and wet,
blanketing the ground,
melting on my tongue.

Skyscrapers reaching toward the clouds,
empires on the rise.

Stars shining from the heavens,
a reminder of how small I am,
how big this world.

I will never see words on a page,
paper and ink painting a story in thin air.

The face of a cute boy,
or the smile of a best friend,
or the love in a mother’s eyes.

I will never see.
I will never hear the rumble of the ocean,
deep and calming.

The sounds of a busy street in the heart of a city,
humanity shouting and honking and moving and living.

I will never hear a lazy summer night:
the shouts of friends,
the buzz of mosquitoes,
the breathless laughter of childhood.

The roar of firecrackers signaling celebration,
or the hush of a whisper carrying a secret.

I will never hear good morning,
good night, good luck,
I’m proud of you,
I love you.

I will never hear.

I will never feel the comfort,
of a warm bed and a full stomach.

The wind in my hair,
the sand under my toes,
the water lapping at my feet,
laugh stuck in my throat.

The warmth of a fire,
fingers cold tucked into my sweater.

I will never feel the throng of bodies in a crowd,
moving to the same beat.

Grass tickling my feet,
lungs gasping for air,
sweat trickling down my face,
a game, an adventure, a victory awaiting me.

I will never feel a kiss or a hug,
or a hand in mine.

I will never feel.

I will live only as a memory,
as an afterthought,
as the life you chose to end,
because you couldn’t bear,
the dishonor of having a girl.

I will remain in your eyes,
a mistake, a shame, a tragedy.

I will serve as a reminder,
of the hypocrisy of our culture,
of the discrepancy,
between the love preached by religion,
and the evil practiced by people.

I will not see or hear or feel,
or grow or love,
past the day you decided,
I didn’t deserve to live,
because I am a girl.

I will be a symbol of this hatred.

I will be a reminder of the sins,
committed in the name of patriarchy.

I will be the question,
of what gives you the right,
the gall to even assume,
hat I am any less worthy of life,
because I am a girl.

I will fuel a movement that rejects the notion,
that a woman isn’t worth as much as a man,
a woman can’t achieve like a man,
a woman can’t do what a man does.

A movement that,
celebrates and empowers and supports women.

A movement that proclaims that
women can look and dress and work,
and love and talk and act,
and be and do as they want.

I will fuel a movement,
that promises defiance and revolution,
a movement that shatters,
double standards and glass ceilings.

A movement that urges girls,
to go forward in this world,
and follow their dreams,
and never let anyone tell them,
that they deserve anything less,
than everything they want,
and that they are worthy  of anything less,
than everything they can achieve.

I will fuel a movement that ends this genocide.