Tuliskan Pengalaman Berhijab, Siswi SMA Menang Lomba Puisi di Kanada

Jakarta - Seorang siswi berhijab di Waterloo, Ontario, Kanada, mendapatkan hadiah jutaan rupiah hanya karena sebuah puisi. Hijabers yang bernama Lama Abdallah itu menulis puisi tentang hijab. Kok bisa?

Cerita kali ini berasal dari Lama Abdallah yang merupakan siswi SMA tingkat akhir di Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School, Waterloo, Kanada. Ia mengikuti kontes menulis antar sekolah, University of Waterloo's HeforShe Writing Contest.

Lama dipilih menjadi salah satu dari tiga pemenang kontes penulisan tersebut. Puisinya terpilih karena memiliki makna mendalam dan dapat menginspirasi.

Lewat tulisan, Lama menuliskan pengalamannya berhijab di Kanada. Ia juga mencurahkan pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang sering diajukan kepadanya tentang pilihan berhijab. Lama pun memberikan jawabannya di puisi tersebut.

Dengan cara ini, Lama Abdallah berharap bisa membantu menghapus kesalahpahaman seputar budaya muslim dan gadis-gadis yang berjilbab tak perlu merasa minder. Oleh karena itu, ia berhasil menjadi satu pemenang antar SMA lainnya di wilayah Waterloo.

Lama Abdallah berhak mendapatkan uang sebesar US$ 500 atau sekitar Rp 6,7 jutaan dari University of Waterloo's HeforShe Writing Contest. Puisi Lama juga akan dipublikasikan dalam bentuk antologi.

Kontes penulisan ini ditujukan untuk menantang para siswi menulis puisi, cerita fiksi atau non-fiksi tentang keadilan gender dan bagaimana tumpang tindih serta hubungannya dengan ras, etnis, kepercayaan, juga seksualitas.

Lama Abdallah berhasil menang setelah bersaing dengan 97 siswa SMA lain di wilayah Waterloo. Berikut puisi lengkap yang ditulis oleh Lama Abadallah.

Fluent in Excuses

You have moulded me into a

Native speaker of Excuses

The straight, unaugmented truth

Is a decrepit book written in a forgotten language,

Faded and weighted down by the threat of time,

Weeping dust when at last it is opened.

And I am the isolated author trying to remember

Forgotten tastes and textures

That were once sweat and pain and laughter

And a happy ending between the covers of a leather-bound manuscript.

I want my happy ending back.

And I will go through pain and sweat and laughter to get it.

No more

No, I'm not that hungry. The first day of fasting is usually hardest.

Fighting to get past a cage of clenched teeth

No more

No, I'm not dying of heat. You get used to it.

Regurgitated from the back of my throat

No more

Oh, it isn't that bad. I don't have to do my hair every morning since it's covered up anyway.

Slithering from the barrier of my lips

And no more of the questions

in your squinted eyes and pitying expressions

Does your religion make you starve yourself

Will you be forced into an arranged marriage

Is your father allowed to beat you

Does he make you dress like that

Why you and not him why you and not him why you and not him why you and not him why you

No more

I am not oppressed.

How dare you imply

That I don't know my own mind

That I am so weak I bend to the wills of the men in my life

That this scarf is on my head

For any other reason than my wanting it to be

That I am a victim

Trapped in the chains of a barbaric faith

No more.

I will re-learn what has been forgotten

I will dust off the rumpled pages

And lose myself in the beauty again.

Yes, I am a little hungry and I choose to be.

Yes, I am hot and I am glad.

Yes, I choose to wear the hijab.

And no, I will not be your excuse

To victimize women of my kind,

I will speak exactly what is on my mind

Without worrying how it conflicts with your views

On telling a woman how you think she should dress. (aln/ami)