SHE – Delhi Poetry Slam

SHE

By Abhirami AS  

 

Voice was named a free bird,
but caged at its first flight.
Though for only the girl
her voice was quite unheard.

She wonders aloud,
Why be silent ?
as she feels,
a pain of realisation,
her mouth being stitched.

Knowledge is power,
but power is for men,
So the books and balls,
Could not be touched
by Unholy hands.

Her lips stitched,
her screams silent.
Her hands tied
she wondered was
at least her legs given?

The books she found,
hidden, she read.
But hurt her tied hands,
was redder by a man's.


Locked in a room,
Like it was a crime,
To step outside, and see daylight.

With an" S" added,
He became stupid.
Tears shedded was,
a weakness.
Are you a girl?
Became an insult

The widow stands,
the fire blazed.
The screams she cried as,
they pushed her in.
The great things
with which they filled her mind,
A holy gift granted,
was a lamb raised for slaughter.

Questions arise,
As the blurred surroundings clear.
The little girl's mind,
witnessed the inequality here.

Why me?
why was I different?
Just my hair being long,
Why was I not given education?
To be shot in the head,
or killed for justice.
The boys next door,
played outside and read books.

Why was I not allowed,
to do as I wished.
I may bleed by the skin deep wounds,
yet the pain of isolation does not dry out.

Why was the night so scary?
That a walk became a nightmare,
The monsters in the dark,
How are they human?

If she can defend and protect them,
in the deep Amazon nights
what difference have I?
The news doesn’t lie,
So the strength she has,
I can’t have?
Even through a shattered skull
Empowered was she being perfectly fine,
Why can't I unleash a power from beneath?

I am not a toy to be played and disregarded
I am not glass
To easily break into pieces.
I am not a machine,
that was created.
I am life,
I am Alive I am not an idiot,
I am definitely not a sin neither will I ever be worthless.

Then why ?
Oh why?
Is my opinion not valid,
though when a man says,
it is appreciated.
Why can’t I be someone more?
a wife, a mother, a daughter,
can I be someone of my own.
Don’t I deserve happiness too

She asks her mother,
Don’t I deserve knowledge?
Aren’t I human?
She cried as her mother replied
“No, you are a woman.”

 


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