By Shah Bisma Manzoor
In the womb of a woman,
I recreated my moves of joy.
I was about to land into the world
Which I had fantasied a land of fairies
There I was, crying and crying
And she, smiling so calmly.
She was my mother – the one who brought me here.
Days passed and passed.
I enjoyed the love of all,
the lovely pat of everyone.
The care that gleamed in the eyes.
Alas! I never knew it was just a transitory period.
I grew up gradually.
I discerned a lot of frowns
a sense of ‘what next’ in their eyes.
My parents, secretly kept on.
What was it!
I could not comprehend at all.
Busy with my own jollies, i went on.
A day came and i landed in my twenties.
A teenage i passed.
Some in joys and some in hiding my fears.
Twenties! And everyone started to wag tongues.
A grown up is she, is she still unmarried!
Oh! Her parents have still not tied her knot
I, dwelt in an insecure society now.
The society that once loved me
Was now up in arms against me
for i was yet to be carried in a
palanquin.
Finally!
A man, quite strange in looks and habits
The one my heart said NO when
Like a show piece i was placed in front of him.
But it was the elders to decide my fate.
To the one whom they said YES I was handed over.
The period came!
I lost my childhood .
The tinsels i would love to bedeck my dupatta with
The arabesques i would love to adorn my small room with
All was lost.
Now they called me A WOMAN.
I was admonished if i somehow
Woke up little late than anyone .
I was teased for no fault of mine.
Still in patience, i kept on being silent
reminiscing the moments of my being a girl.
How i would run after butterflies
trying to catch the pace of the moving wind.
Dancing with the rejoicing daffodils.
With a baby in my womb now,
I carried on with the daily chores .
With not a single helping hand sharing my chores.
I, with a thousand hands, would serve every purpose .
And then at night, my tears would dribble
The pain would suck the strength out of me.
Yet i was to stay silent!
For i was a woman.
Destined to be in pain
But never to say uff
Poems on Woman
Shah Bisma Manzoor, from Jammu and Kashmir, India, has done masters in English Literature and works as Vice Principal at a higher secondary.
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