20171231

Poornima Laxmeshwar



An obituary: From all the women

You've reduced me to yet
another headline on the front page,
debated, unread, yet another news story,
forgotten, a hashtag that trends but gets
crushed in the pile of this burning nation's
issues, cows, bans, imposition, hate.

I am forever a country of unrest,
my borders, infiltrated,
the LOC, a meek guard.
The division, simply an act.

I am forever lynched,
my freedom, someone else’s discussion;
matters of my heart,
deserving of serious mob justice;

I am forever below the poverty line,
starving for a rationed sense of life
on terms of work throughout the month,
including days of menstruation
when the cup is brimming;

I am forever in camouflage,
at times a victim of rape,
at others with acid burns on my face,
else I am happy watching the saas-bahu episode
oozing patriarchy on a grunting television;

I am forever a reason of riot,
a bloodstain in the dark street alleys,
demanding an answer
but always easy to ignore, always easy to hush.

I become a name and erase,
I become a count and remain as a number
in the census reports,
I wish I could be your country’s anthem instead.
It gets your respect, your attention
That my voice has been unable to
in all these claimed years of independence.




Poornima Laxmeshwar resides in the garden city Bangalore and works as a content writer for a living.
 
 
previous page     contents     next page
 

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home