"The Afghan woman has been spoken for and depicted in numerous ways since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Afghan women have been represented in the Western media, both in the television and the news broadcast numerous times. They have made the Times magazine cover page, been revealed in National Geographic, and have been pronounced as victims of woman’s rights. Their crime is simply being born women in Afghanistan in an era unfavorable to their gender.



For over ten years, I have investigated and listened to long hours of heartbreaking stories by Afghan women in numerous countries. I have conversed with old and young women and read plentiful anecdotes of Afghan women’s narratives from around the world. Although I cannot claim to share their experiences completely, I have spent many years of love transcribing their narratives, depitcing what took place in their lives, as well as their interpretation of their struggles and daily burdens. Although they are my words, they nevertheless represent these Afghani women's rightful voices. While it is my pen that was used to write these poems, in every poem, in every verse, lies the fighting potency of these women. And we witness through their lens the long suffering echoed throughout the book in their own words. I am blessed to have been favored as an unassuming envoy for their voices."