If I Ever Have Children

Author: Adelia Khalid

If I ever have a daughter, 
I will teach her to be brave.
I will tell her to be wise.
I will teach her modesty but I will also teach her pride,
I will tell her that her worth is not defined by,
The size of her lips or her hips or her eyes,
But of the honesty of her heart and the intricacies of her mind, 
I will tell her to smile,
Because the world needs more smilers, 
I will tell her to work hard,
Because sometimes she will have to work twice as harder.
I will tell her that there will be people who think that she doesn't deserve the things that she's achieved,
I will tell her that there will be people who will never believe what she has to say, 
Never listen to her just because of who she is,
I will teach her that she is not just a supporting role in someone else's story.
I will tell her that she is more than just her body,
That she was not put on this earth with the sole purpose of satisfying someone else,
That she is not an accessory to a crime she didn't commit,
I will teach her to have empathy.
I will teach her that her existence is a resistance to those who disagree.

My daughter,
I will teach you to be kind, 
But if someone touches you, 
In a way you know they shouldn't,
I promise you,
I don't think they will make it home.

If I ever have a son, 
I will teach him to be strong, 
I will teach him to be gentle,
I will tell him that it is not a crime to feel,
That crying to human beings is just as important as watering is to a tree, 
I will tell him that his worth is not defined by.
Muscles and emotions you think you have to hide,
And there is nothing wrong with liking the colour pink,
And that you are not excused from kitchen duties and dirty dishes in the sink, 
I will tell him that people will expect too much of him,
And if it gets too much,
I will be there for him and tell him that he is more than enough for me.
There will be people who will tell you that you are inherently vicious,
When you and I know otherwise,
I will teach him that violence is never the answer,
I will remind him to protect his sister when
I won't be able to.
I will tell him that it is more than okay to say "I'm not okay" "I love you,"
I will teach you to be brave, 
To stand in the eyes of hate,
Shout to the ears of wrong-doers,
Listen and let their victims tell their story,
I will teach him that his existence is a resistance to those who disagree.

I will teach you to be kind, 
I will try to be kind,
But if you come home having touched someone's daughter,
In a way you know you shouldn't have,
Not even thinking if the same happened to me or your sister, 
Even when I've taught you to, 
I assure you,
You will no longer have a home to come back to.

If I ever have children, 
I will teach them to love,
Until the world starts to do the same,
In the meantime, my child, 
I will promise you,
I will love as furiously as I hope you do too,
So that when you get here,
You won't have to.

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A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and the the Global Action Week for Education.

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Adelia Khalid, 21, is the #1 MPH [the Malaysian bookseller] bestselling author of All Minds Are Broken. Growing up in Malaysia, she would be seen with a book wherever she went. Her love for books and reading moved her to start writing her own stories. Eventually, she wrote her debut novel at 17. She is currently pursuing her Degree in English Literature at Universiti Malaya. She writes songs and poetry in her spare time.

مادرَ الفاظ / Mother's of Words

Author: Yalda Aminy

منو تو نسلی از اندوه ممتد
شکار پنجه ی خفاش بودیم
نگاه ام آسمانی بود و اما
منو تو همقطار باز بودیم
ببستن سنگر تعلیم ما را
منو تو مطلوب الماس بودیم
شکستن رنگ های نوجوانی
منو تو هردو یک آواز بودیم
برای نسل یک ملت چه گویم
منو تو زن شده غمساز بودیم
گهی ظلم و شکنجه گهَ خشونت
منوتو مادر قفقاز بودیم
شب تاریک ز زلف ما سحر شد
منو تو بند یک الفاظ بودیم
خشونت نام دوم جهان هست
منوتو مظلوم این ساز بودیم
کتابم را گرفتند و ندانند
منوتو مادر الفاظ بودیم
به رقص و پایکوبی در دل جهل
منو تو زاده ، آزاد بودیم
به آواز خوانی آسمان درسم
منو تو معلم هر ساز بودیم

#یلداهُژیرامینی‌ع ♥️🥀

You and I are a generation of continuous sadness
We were the prey of bat claws
My gaze was heavenly and but
You and I were on the same train with Baz
Closing the bastion of our education
You and I were the desired diamonds
Breaking the colors of adolescence
You and I were the same song
What can I say for the generation of a nation?
You and I became a woman, we were sad
Sometimes cruelty and torture, sometimes violence
You and I were Caucasian mothers
The dark night became dawn from our zalf
You and I were bound by the same words
Violence is the second name of the world
You and I were victims of this instrument
They took my book but they don't know
You and I were the mother of words
At the time of dancing and stomping in the heart of ignorance
You and I were born free
I am learning to sing the sky
You and I, the teacher, were each instrument

“They took my book but they don’t know,
You and I were the mother of words”

— Yalda Aminy

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A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and the the Global Action Week for Education.

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Yalda Hozhair Aminy, 22, is an social activist and a member of the Afghan Girls Robotic Team. She works with several international organizations, including Afghan Youths Network and the Golden Needle Association. She is an Ambassador of Allies to Refugees in Afghanistan and helped them to open their first center in Afghanistan.

You Are a Woman

Author: Melanie, aka MAL

To the little girl who likes toy cars and dinosaurs,
Who likes to get dirt under her fingernails.
You are not any less of a girl.
You feel it in your bones, you feel it when you kick a soccer ball across the field:
You are a woman.

To the little girl who likes dolls and tiaras,
Whose room is drenched in pink from her bed sheets to the wall,
You are not “too girly.”
You feel it in your heart, you feel it when you tie a bow around your hair:
You are a woman.

To the young lady whose head is in the books,
The lady who is sure of her goals, whose dream is her profession,
You are not any less of a woman.
You feel it in your mind, you feel it when you look at the diploma on your wall:
You are a woman.

To the young lady who dreams of a big family,
The lady whose one wish is to fall in love, to have children,
You are not a disappointment.
You can feel it in your blood, you feel it when you hold a sleeping child:
You are a woman.

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A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and Global Action Week for Education.

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Melanie, also known by the pen name MAL is a seventeen-year-old Cuban-American writer and winner of the Scholastic Arts and Writing Silver National Medal in 2022. While writing her novels, she enjoys writing and sharing poetry on social media.

Education is a must

Author: Etishri Chaturvedi, She’s the First Girls Advisory Council Member

Education is a must,
None should protest.
The most powerful weapon is Education,
And without it you can't do anything in this nation.
Education is the best,
And While you Education you can't rest.
Education is our right,
And so it teaches not to fight.

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A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and Global Action Week for Education.

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Etishri Chaturvedi, 17, is a student from India and a member of She’s the First’s Girls Advisory Council. She believes that when women and girls support each other, incredible things happen.

(المعلم)

Author: Fatima Hammouda, STF Youth Ambassador

لولا الحياة تعطي ما تعطي

لهديت للمعلم كل صعب المنال

ان ما قدمه لنا من علم ومعرفة

كان له نورا في دنياه

واشكره واقدره واحترمه

على كل مجهوداته التي تحصى ولا تضام

الله وليه في أموره

لأنه صبر وعمل واجتهد

لكي يربي جيولا ،وينمي عقولا، ويوجه شبابا

دمت سالما يا فنان

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A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and Global Action Week for Education.

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Fatima Hammouda, 20, is a She’s the First Youth Ambassador from Morocco. As part of the program, she helped create and produce the Power of Poetry campaign! When she’s not studying at university, she enjoys writing poetry.

(success)

Author: Fatima Hammouda, STF Youth Ambassador

In the name of God
I start my poetry,
Presented on success,
It's a small word
Formed in Arabic dictionary From 4 words
(N, Jim, Alif,Haa)
Lines of suffering, patience, determination, and struggle,
The desire to reach it increases day After day,
Week after week.....
The dreamy and ambitious person always sees himself at the highest peaks
By overcoming every stumbling block of life,
Every failure and laziness,
And going forward is best seriousness and work.

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A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and Global Action Week for Education.

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Fatima Hammouda, 20, is a She’s the First Youth Ambassador from Morocco. As part of the program, she helped create and produce the Power of Poetry campaign! When she’s not studying at university, she enjoys writing poetry.

Time

Author: S.L.

A sorcery
A curse
A beginning.

Time

Second by second
Minute by minute
Each with its own mind.

Time
A treasure
A gift
A spell.

Time
Breathing, living, existing
Creating, thinking, believing
Attempting, trying, healing.

Time
Has life
Needs love
Is magic.

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A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and Global Action Week for Education.

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This author chose to remain anonymous and use a pseudonym.

Just Because

Author: S.L.

Just because the world is mother nature’s,
Does not mean that we can take what’s ours,
Does not mean that we are here to control,
Here for power,
Here for exploitation,
Here to be exploited.

Just because we are existing, inhaling breath after breath, exhaling, feeling,
Does not mean that we are living, contributing, competing.
Does not mean that we are taking, giving, thriving.
We grieve for those who cannot grieve themselves.
We pity those disadvantaged at unchangeable factors, faults that we established.
And yet, we seethe for those brave enough to deviate from these factors, our own faults.
Were they ever meant to be there?
Just like were we ever meant to be here?

Why must we fault those who are blended in our own faults? Our mistakes? Our existence?

We must be willing to deviate from what life expects of us and follow the guidance of our mother nature.
We must be willing to be something more than existing.
We must be willing to simply be.
We mustn’t be exploited.
We must exploit our faults.

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A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and Global Action Week for Education.

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This author chose to remain anonymous and publish under a pseudonym.

Girls the World Over

Author: Nova Macknik-Conde

This is for the girls.
The girls who protested,
The girls who picked up a pen,
Moving hearts, changing minds, bringing together thousands,
Using their voices to shout louder than the dissenters ever could,
To show that education is a universal right,
And that they will not stand for anything less.

This is for the women.
The women who knew their worth,
That they were powerful and intelligent,
That they deserved better,
And that they will never be lesser.

This is for the ladies.
The ladies the world over, The ladies anywhere, anywhen, and anywho,
Who stood together and changed the future.

To be a young girl in this day and age,
To look up to these icons,
To have centuries of heroines behind me,
Revealing the path ahead,
Whispering in my ear the truths they upheld so proudly.

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A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and Global Action Week for Education.

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Nova Macknik-Conde is 11 years old and she lives in Brooklyn, NY, U.S., with her parents, her two older brothers, and her two guinea pigs: Cannoli and Snickerdoodle. Nova enjoys writing poetry and fantasy, in addition to being passionate about mythology, philosophy, history, and STEAM. She serves as a Young Reviewer for Frontiers for Young Minds and as a Blogger for Stone Soup magazine. Nova’s writing has been recognized by The Betty Award, the EngineerGirl Writing Contest, the Inklings Book Contest, and Writopia’s Worldwide Plays Festival. Her poetry has appeared in print in Stone Soup magazine, Skipping Stones magazine, and Cricket magazine.