“Women of the Valley” By Safa Hijazi | National

“Women of the Valley”
By Safa Hijazi, U-M LSA student
Did you know
I live in a valley?
There are bellows and turns that
I have lost myself in
And did you know
that this valley
is mine?
But there are fingers
that act
as though they have carved my rivers and filled my lakes
There are loud voices that disrupt
the still hushes of my forests
I have been delicately crafted by the
Eternal Love of God
And you
are no God
I will admit that
my plums still bruise
But that acceptance is something
you will never fathom
It’s a shame you confuse love with usefulness
Sadly if I die
you will perish too
But if you die
I will live on in grace
Always.
-
Selected poem from the collection “Let Us Get Lost in the Valleys.” First place winner of The
Keith Taylor Award for Excellence in Poetry from the Hopwood Program 2023. #NationalPoetryMonth #Poetry #umicharts #shorts