Beautiful Woman Cry Too!

Kim, a brave mother of two, a lovely wife,
Her husband lauds her before God and men,
But she blushes, half-smiling, signals him to stop,
Her beauty melts the hearts of all, young and old.
Her noble character is the talk of the town,
Envied by neighbors' wives, praised by their husbands.

Her husband left home to fight the war in the front,
She alone manages the affairs of her home and her kids,
She prays for him every night after her children sleep,
Home becomes quieter in his absence,
At night, she's exhausted from the hard toils of the day,
And now they follow - Early to bed, early to rise.

Finally, the echoes of gunfires around midnight,
Seem so near, yet still far away,
Her older boy awfully cries, awakened from his nightmares,
She sings a lullaby to hush him back to sleep,
Now, the sound of bombs and gunfires approaches nearer,
Then, her neighbors softly whisper, "Kim, we had to flee…"

She back-carries one child, front-lifts the other, both tied tightly,
They flee to the forest through the dark, in deep silence,
They survive two nights and a day, without food, under the cold,
I look into her eyes when she cannot feed her child,
"Pearly tears flow down - Oh! Beautiful women cry too," I say,
Nothing is sadder than seeing a beautiful woman in tears.

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(This poem is dedicated to the tough Kuki-Zo women who manage homes and children while their men fight on the front lines. Salutations to all brave daughters too!)