**A Poem by Annasoltan Kekilova**

If I ever had an enemy in this world,

He should have the arrogance of a dragon.

Instead of sitting uneasily on ashes,

One should throw oneself into the fire.

(date unknown, translated by Youssef Azemoun)

annasoltan kekilova (b. 1942) was a turkmen poet, feminist, and civil rights activist > broken by authoritarian repression, she died in a mental hospital in 1983 > belonging to a generation which produced many outstanding female artists in soviet central asia, many of kekilova's poems from her poetry collection zenanlar (women)

had become lyrics for famous Turkmen songs

source: https://progres.online/art-and-culture/a-poet-in-the-soviet-regime-annasoltan-kekilova-a-turkmen/

a painting of annasoltan kekilova by hangedi ownuk: https://maksat.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/annasoltan-kekilowa/

@blaft