She Doesn't Speak Of It Poem by Hasna Rafeek

She doesn't talk about the way
she swallows her tears before they fall.
About how tired she is
from pretending everything is okay.

She walks through crowds
like she isn't breaking,
like the weight on her back
isn't getting heavier every day.

She listens more than she speaks,
not because she has nothing to say,
but because no one ever really listens
when she does.

They say she's strong.
They don't see the nights
she lies awake,
wondering why being a woman
feels like carrying a war
inside your chest.

She's told how to sit,
how to smile,
how to be nice even when it hurts,
how to stay quiet
even when it burns.

And she does.
Because that's what she's learned.
Because no one ever taught her
that her voice
matters.