Leopards For Mahsa Amini

The children born of Venus break through their bounds,
voices loud,
brave, beautiful roars that echo across the world,
hair tumbling down their backs as they run,
carrying the fates of their younger sisters on their shoulders.

Windows light up as they pass,
faces and fingers press against the glass,
girls are gleeful,
desperate for a glimpse of the leopards as they leap into action.
Claws shimmering and sparkling in the moon’s soft light strike down the weak, whispering shadows that surround the town square.

A man shuffles towards the leopard,
trying to tower above her with his stocky chest and curt voice.
He fails,
falling to the ground as he asks her again to submit,
the certainty of his power begins to crumble with each step the leopard takes,
and surrounded by her sisters,
watched by the ones who will one day be women,
she looks him in the eye and begins to sing.