By Gurdeep Kaur
Lord sent me on a journey,
A journey to this earth,
With eyes lit with dreams,
With hopes, love, and mirth.
I set out for my journey-
The journey of my birth.
There I was,
With that gentle soul
Whom I called my mother,
Whom I called my own..
My only bond with the world outside,
My mother, my strength, my world, my pride.
I saw her smile,
That smile was for me-
Welcoming me to her world
With joy, love, and glee.
I was growing inside her,
So happy, so proud-
Shielded from all evil,
Sheltered from dark clouds.
But for how long... till when?
God will bless this little wren?
I had to be punished..
Right there and then.
My crime?
I was a girl-
Unwelcomed, unwanted,
Uncalled-for little girl.
In a moment I am worshipped
Through night, dusk, and dawn.
In a moment I’m a Goddess,
Next, slaughtered and gone.
I smiled at the ways,
The ways of the world-
My last smile, last chuckle,
Went unseen, unheard.
"You too, Mom?" I murmured…
She went deaf,
Paid no heed.
"Let me live, Mom, don’t kill me..."
I fearfully did plead.
I know-with her body that day,
Her soul too did bleed.
I wondered with pain..
But I’ll never complain.
What should I ask her?
What will she explain?
She too was a woman.. so frail, so forlorn,
At the mercy of the same world
That kills me unborn.
She was helpless, she was weak..
Couldn’t hear me, couldn’t speak.
She will never hear my laughter,
She could never hear my shriek.
Her little daughter, her angel-
She tried but failed to save.
The same womb that nurtured me
Was turned into my grave.
I bid adieu to dear world
That I so longed to see-
The world so heartless,
This world didn’t need me.
No tears were shed for me,
Perhaps joy was in the air.
Was this all I deserved?
Is it just? Is it fair?
A silent tear rolled out
From the eyes of that soul..
Whom I called my mother,
Whom I called my own.
That tear, that emotion
Was my last farewell-
A silent homage to the pearl,
From its crumbling shell.
God wanted me to live, Mom..
Why didn’t the world let me?
I wanted to spread my wings,
I wanted to fly free.
I would have shared my sorrows
And joys with you, Mother.
But you too despised me-
As I’m not special like my brother.
He is a boy.. he owns the world,
And the same world disowns me.
I’ll never see the sunshine now,
I’ll never see the moon.
I’ll never know what colors are-
What’s night, what’s morning, or noon.
A curse that I was,
That died in its cocoon.
This was the end of my journey-
The journey to death.
Before I could learn to breathe,
They killed me, stopped my breath.
I am not that girl
Whom the mankind deify-
Not a daughter, not a soul,
Just a burden was I.
With wings of my dreams
All broken and shorn,
I am sent back to HIM-
Dejected…
Unborn.