Hearing Voices

I am an introvert in a world that pushes me to be an extrovert.
I am an artist in a world that values me as a scientist.
I am a healer in a world that reduces me to a set of letters: BA, MD, FRCPC.

I am a woman in a world that wants me to be a man.

I am religious in a world that tells me to be secular.
I am spiritual in a world that tells me to be religious.
I am religious in a world that tells me to be spiritual.

Religious, spiritual, religious.

I am a human being in a world that desires me to be invisible.
I am wild in a world that coerces me to be civilized.
I am civilized in a world that calls me to be wild.

I am a speaker in a world that commands me to be silent.

And I am a Muslim in a world that tells me to be anything but. 

I am silent in a world that pressures me to speak.
I am patient in a world that tells me to rush.
I am free in a world that wants me to be in chains.

Introvert. Artist. Healer. Teacher.
Therapist.  Woman.  Religious. Spiritual. Religious. Human
Being. Wild. Civilized. Speaker. Muslim.

Silent,
Patient
& Free.

by Yusra Ahmad