WOMEN – SCATTERED IMAGES
The door closed behind her; Nangema looked back
The last rites are over…………
Alone in the wilderness……….
A living dead body.
To another world..? Is there is another world..?
A bundle of wronged life hugged to her chest
Whose wrong? Of destiny’s Of innocence?
Of human frailty? Of human strength?
Nangema thought; The door did not close
For the one who tore her life to pieces
Centuries pass; but Nangemas are still Nangemas
The owner of scarlet letters…
Destroyed, defeated, dejected, desolate………
Caressing my unborn daughter
Many more incarnations in my mind…
Panchalis not able to resort to another Krishna
Sitas not able to leap into fire
And my granny with tears
Dripping on the betel leaves
The women with starving children
Endlessly waiting for the staggering steps
And uncivilized uttering
Knee – deep in the dirt, life in mire
Smell of mud is dissolved in her body
Two hands rocking the saree – cradle on the branches
Always afraid of thunder and rain
And the mid – day sun
The others, with tear-soaked dreams
Waiting to fill their purses
And ladies, sobs welled up inside
Appear in frills and laces
Two eyes peeping through the kitchen door
Wiping hands on the sooty dress
The foster-mothers pushing ball of rice into the little mouths
To be abandoned……
African women bending under the weight of firewood
With two children in and out
Huddled among a heap of vessels
They leave for others only
A princess on a palanquin
A rare sight……..only on reels
Not real….
And me and me and me too…….
The heaviness of being……….
The earth – detached
Absorbs all the sweat
Swallows all the sobbings
To flourish nature with greenness
Thunder, lighting, heat, light and strength
(Nangema is a character in Olappamanna’s poem ,a teenage girl ostracized from the community for illegal pregnancy .Sita ,the wife of Srirama was asked to leap into the fire for testing her chastity-eventhough her husband knew she was chaste ,he wanted to prove it to the public. Panchali could not be saved by five husbands and at the time of crisis she had to resort to God Krishna for protection .These are mythological characters in Indian mythology ,but these stand true for women at all places and all times.scarlet letter is from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel of the same name)
A contest entry
- Four topics, no rubbish 5-minute entries - by Speaking in Tongues.
450 points, ended April 19, 2007, 11 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Over 250 Poems by zhaniswolf.
350 points, ended July 23, 2007, 42 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 7 of 7
-
Yes, sometimes women endure quite a bit and should be honored for endurance and strength. Excellent.
-
Wonderful
Very creative and so well written. Best of luck in the contest.
-
very emotional and wow! Sadly there are so many crazy rules that woman seem to need to follow. Just horrible to think one must jump into a fire to prove she is chaste!
-
Tis is a amazing write, of desperation and sacrifice. its so sad, how death and sacrifice seem to follow as the only ways to make things happier to people. If one is composed as evil then they must be killed even if they aint evil, they must be for the sake of the community. Or if a girl is underage with baby, sacrifice must be made. Its sad, but thanks for the explaining at the bottom as well helped me understand a bit more.
Sincerely,
Deathwolf Tasagka
-
wow. the wording was weird to me, because i am not familiar with this mythology. thank you for explaining it at the end. i think that helped a bit. good job and good luck.
-
I'm familiar with Indian mythology for the most part, and thank you for this - it was very interesting, and had me lost in it.
-
No matter how rough we think we have it, there will always be those even less fortunate then ourselves...
Mother cuddles bag of bones
for food is never near
Second youngest screaming out
a constant state of fear
Wandering like gypsy camp
Since travesty has struck
How much longer, can hold on
Another day with bit of luck
-Eddy
Adding your comment:
1 - 7 of 7
