Father says,

“As long as I am alive,

 You are secure in my house.”

Husband says,

“If you cannot adjust,

 You are free to leave my house.”

Son says,

 “What more do you want?

  I have given you a lovely room in my house.”

But she has also her own house,

And that she has raised

 Upon the free and vast tract of her mind,

Where resilience assures

Never to let any storm smash the house down,

The patience in the house is ever ready with the urn of peace

To dew and douse if violence’s flame ever leap up,

Love in the house fills the air with the chant,

 Of the family and of friends,

Of the land and of the world,

Of the rich and of the poor,

And of the Creator,

Who has but impressed

 One and all upon the earth

With His love first.  

…………Dr. Fathema Begum