POETICbug: October 2013

AS SHE LEFT

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AS SHE LEFT [Every Father's emotion on his daughter's wedding day]

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AS SHE LEFT

"And this is how I loved her",

He said to himself,

As she climbed down,

The staircase with poise,

Where her anklets giggled before,

Where her feet stomped in anger,

Where her shoes flew in tiredness,

But not today,

He stood among the crowd,

All eyes watched her,

And her embellished beauty,

While he saw her innocence,

Her fickle stubbornness,

And his pride,

Welled up eyes, his heavy heart,

Greeting each one, smiles and laugh,

He looked at her sitting there,

Reverberating chants,

As she became another’s prayer,

The moment arrived,

Sooner than known,

When the hustle and bustle,

Began to mourn,

He gulped the pain yet again,

While she held him tight,

Soaked in her tears his silence spoke,

“I wish you never had to leave this side”

All seconds of love bestowed,

Ran down his arms,

The last time as her only man,

When he embraced her closely,

Giving his comfort and warmth,

Bidding adieu, as she left,

He waved at his daughter,

And looked at the house,

Where, as a toddler she played.

I am Woman

I am woman,

I have a body that I proudly own.

But,

When you grope me off guard in a bus overcrowded,

Your thoughts stink more than your sweat,

When you sneak into my privacy without my consent,

You bother me more than dirt,

When you scan me over with eyes wide open,

You pierce through me and my soul,

When you corner me waiting in the secluded lane,

Your ugly shadow thereafter haunts,

When you choose me, my parts and mock,

You kill me before death befalls,

When you rip me off in paintings on the college walls,

I feel bare even with all clothes on,

When you force me to accept your love bitterly,

I am marred for lifelong,

When you seek me as an owner, for entertainment,

I shudder while you revel, you flaunt,

You and many like your crooked mind,

Curse me, my birth,

Sometimes the ghost of you crosses my way,

I wish I could hide myself somewhere,

I demand not anything but this,

Don’t drag my dignity naked,

Nor worship me sacred,

If you can,

Treat me as a human.

What’s in my name?

I was curious once,

I asked many,

Illiterate and learned ones,

They said,

It says all about you,

Your name is your religion,

Your caste too,

And sometimes the country,

You belong to,

Your name is your fate,

To live or die,

When they clash about,

A silly lie.

Your name decides,

Whom to love,

One mistaken chance,

And you are killed by the mob.

Your name states,

You’re from a different land,

While you befriend all,

You're still the sore they can’t stand.

That was all,

I thought to be,

When they said,

Your name also carries,

Your family legacy.

So when time falls,

Your name will be the key,

Even a gruesome sin,

But you will be let free.

I asked them,

“Stop”;

No more to know,

I erased all I heard

And returned to zero

What’s in my name?

I was curious again,

This time, I asked none,

It is but only my parents’ love for me,

And my onus to give it,

Each day a kind deed.

Pages

AS SHE LEFT

I am Woman

What’s in my name?

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