This poem is my attempt to process the sacrificial compulsion of women. I have known, intuitively, that women somehow find themselves (as do many oppressed groups of people) in roles which necessitate a sort of existence dependent upon suffering. What's more, justifying their suffering as the very meaning of life. This comes from a number of factors, but it has always been a narrative hidden from plain sight, as those who suffer tend to shield their tribulations from the world. The mystery of this turbulence has compelled me so, and in a sense, this is what I wonder when I look at women who appear strong. What is their relationship to trial? How do they view it? And is it something they are, even slightly, proud of? I have explored these questions in this story, and as I know this poem is no longer mine, it is these questions I hope to see evolve as these words now belong to the universe. 

Production by Schuyler Karr. 

Ankober T. Yewondwossen

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