I Sleep with Silence,
By Noshin Ahmadyar
I sleep with silence,
and wake with weight.
No songs of sunrise,
just the echo of “wait.”
My dreams wear chains,
my thoughts wear scars,
but still I long to reach
for distant stars.
They closed our doors,
they restricted our voices,
but deep inside,
we still have choices.
Hope is not easy.
It aches, it cries.
But I wear it daily.
like a prayer in disguise.
Afghanistan-
my wounded land,
you bleed, you burn,
but still you stand.
And I, your daughter,
your silent scream—
Still breathes,
Still writes,
Still dreams.
“من هنوز اینجا هستم”
با خاموشی میخوابم
و با سنگینی بیدار میشوم
نه نوای سپیدهدم،
فقط پژواک انتظار
خوابهایم در زنجیر،
اندیشههایم زخمی
اما بازهم دست میکشم
به سوی ستارههای دور
دروازهها بسته شدند
صداهایمان گرفته شدند
ولی در ژرفای دلم
هنوز یک انتخاب است
امید آسان نیست
درد دارد، اشک دارد
ولی هر روز آن را میپوشم
مثل دعایی پنهان
افغانستان—وطن زخمیام،
میسوزی، خون میریزی،
ولی هنوز قامتت بلند است
و من، دخترت،
فریاد خاموشت،
هنوز نفس میکشم،
هنوز مینویسم،
هنوز خواب میبینم
Noshin Ahmadyar is fifteen years old and was forced to leave school after completing the ninth grade when the Taliban banned schooling for girls over sixth grade. Her greatest passion is to study so she can serve her country and help her people. Education is the path she believes will let her give back to the community she loves.
Noshing’s dreams for the future include becoming a surgeon. Alongside medicine, she has a deep love for writing, and she hopes to combine – to heal people in a hospital and heal hearts with her words.
Writing, she says, means everything to her. It’s how she expresses her feelings. Through writing she finds freedom and calmness. “Even when I cannot speak my thoughts to someone, I pour them onto paper, and the page understands everything.”
