by Jasmin Kaur
To the woman who asked me why I tie a turban:
Every morning, I wrap a lineage
of revolution around my head
of women with fists like iron
of humans that laughed in the face
of fear.
Every turn of cloth
sounds like revolt
every fold a vow to rebel.
Once upon a time
kings tied turbans
and if you couldn’t claim
royal heritage a crown upon
your head would mean death
but I come from a lineage of
courage
and
where there was once fear
arose a sea of rebels that held
a rebellious notion
that human life meant freedom,
that equality was a birthright and
not an earned privilege
and when the Sixth Sikh Guru
told his comrades
to tie crowns
of cloth they angered a system of
inequality
shattered political
privilege in Punjab and rose before
a state that wished only to sedate
putting their lives on the line
for
seven meters of cotton
desiring death before oppression.
I tie a revolution around my
flowing hair every morning
I awake with the notion that your
life means just as much as mine
that all human life deserves respect.
Every morning,
I crown myself with
a vow to speak for the voiceless
every morning, I
honour a thousand rebellions
against injustice
every morning
I rise up for freedom
every morning
I decide that I am free.
