Iraqi women are in a near panic as the threat of a Sharia law based legal system hovers ominously over the constitutional protection once promised along with the pelting of U.S servicemembers with flowers upon the liberation of Baghdad.

Maybe take another look
That’s not just terror in my eyes
The cloth that’s stretched across my face
The stifled silence of my cries

For granted for too long we took
The freedom just to feel the breeze
The warmth of sun on shoulder blades
The gentle shade of cooling trees

My body now is forced to hide
No longer free to move with grace
To simply get from A to B
I cloak my soul and hide my face

Religious fervor rears its head
Compounding all my deepest fears
When I walk by you won’t see much
Perhaps just trickles of my tears

The battle is not easily won
For sons and daughters I still strive
I will not rest until I’m free
I still can breathe, I’m still alive