[This student submission was selected to appear in Lēʻahi, a student journal of creative arts that includes poetry, fiction, drama, film scripts, autobiography, narrative, creative nonfiction, art, and photography. For inquiries and information about submissions, contact Board of Student Publications.]  

By Shay Latif

Let her know that her dark eyes hold 
the depth of a thousand universes,
and the dust of stars.
She is a descendant of queens and gods,
of gold and jade stones.
Tell your daughters that the fire that burns within them
is the same fire that have kept alters warm, 
that made thousands of men bow their heads in worship and prayer. 
Her roots stretch further and deeper than any tree, 
for she, is where all mankind began. 
Do not let her get lost in stories of Vikings and conquerors,
show her instead how her feet fit in the footprints of rulers from the past,
how her hands fit into the carvings of temple walls, 
how her eyes have been depicted in every scroll of wisdom. 
Teach her to listen carefully, 
to the songs from the hearts of her people, 
how their hymns shake the ground beneath their enemies.
How the skies weep for their injustice when the smoke of the fires reaches the heavens.  
The thunder will echo through the mountains, 
and she will learn,
that we came from the flames of the sun, 
and to the flames of the sun we shall return.