She will rise 

by Shanez Meziani

Look at all the things we’ve been through.

All the stares we try to beware,

but we go on perfectly voiceless,

while the silence chokes us, the words wanting to escape.

Shout.

Don’t you forget those who came before us,

The ones who made us stronger and stood up while others were afraid,

Afraid of being stepped on and squashed like a bug.

Unimportant.

But she is a fighter and tomorrow is a new day and she will stand tall,

She will accept all and attain assurance,

That no other woman will stand alone in a crowd

And when she leaves this earth they’ll thank you and say that her soul was one of the few souls that made me wonder what it was like to live,

to fight, to empower and to rise.

Write it in the books, The Friday Everything Changed. 

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Inquiry question:

1. How does the influence of others impact our own lives?

Rationale:

She will rise by Shanez Meziani is a free verse poem that looks into women empowerment and explains the question of how other people’s influence impacts our own lives. In line 3, perfectly voiceless seems to come from the poem Mushrooms by Sylvia Plath she chose this line because of how well it describes women in the past who fought to have equal rights, but their concerns were ignored. In line 4, Shanez uses two personifications to emphasize the fact that even if some women did speak up for their rights, others were stopping themselves from speaking up even though they wanted to, they were afraid of being punished or of being categorized as someone different from society as said in the 8th line ‘Afraid of being stepped on and squashed like a bug ‘and the line itself is a simile addressing to women being disgraced by most men. The 11th line seems to be alliteration, meaning that ‘she’ will make all women feel like they belong, which addresses the inquiry question of the influence one woman can have on the world. Line 12 is an oxymoron describing that no woman will feel left out or invisible in a crowd of ignorant people. Line 13 in italicized, is allusion from The Book Thief and explains how the two strong independent and helpful spirits of both the woman and Liesel are similar. Lastly, line 15 in italicized, is an allusion to the Friday Everything Changed explaining that when women get their rights and freedom, they’ll make history.