English Poem – A Woman
Photo credit: taliesin from morguefile.com
Open, closed
Chained rather than step a foot outside the threshold
No, you shall not
You shall not speak, nor drink
The same water as the rest
You shall not take a step into the real
World, for it is ours and you are to blame
For all the deeds and all the scars you must bear
Mother, mother
You were once called as that
Limping and giggling, holding your the scarves of your strength
We learnt to walk, only to trample
On the grass you want to walk on
You look at yourself, feeling the edges of the scars
We left when we clipped your wings
Tied you to the bedpost
Ripped your clothes
You shed a tear, but not in pain
But because you are so tired of being wrongly
Accused of anything and everything
You are so tired of being on the end of
Every stick, every belt and every angry conversation
Veiled, covered
You must not step out in the dark
You must, you must
Stay in, feed us, clean after us
Eat not before us, sleep only after all the lights
Are out; arise before the sun
Bring us our water, bring us our clothes
Bring us pleasure, take our rage
Take our fuss, take our mistakes and
Claim it was your innocent misstep
You are a woman, a beautiful creation of God
Divine, holy, worshiped by all
Loving, caring, forgiving
You are a woman, a sordid weasel
A victim, a piece of garbage struck far
Nothing at all
You can talk but you have no voice
You do, you do but as we know we
Muffle it with the strike of hands, iron
Pain and unbreakable humiliation
You have a strength we cannot allow you to sustain
We cannot just stand there and watch you
Claim the world we claim to be ours
You are a mother, a daughter,
A sister, a friend
A woman
Indestructible in your own way
Not in this society we call ideal
I am still, dumbfounded by your extraordinary
Plight and courage to fight it
Even if it takes more than a million years for
Others to open their eyes and realize
I will
Worship the ground you walk on
***
