The Women You Knew

Hello readers,

Some of us met during the first blog hop of this decade and shared stories about the past decade. This time, I decided to take the safe route by writing a poem for the theme 'The Woman That I Am'.

I

Was life always colorless?

Where did the soft glow of the yellow go?

The rusty lamp in her wrinkled hands

Failed to bring back the shades of her youth

The ruby on her old finger

Resembled a lifeless onyx in the moonless night.

Where did the years go?

How did she let the world

Take away her love for life?

Questions swirled around,

Colder than the winter chill

Demanding an answer

She was now determined to find.

One day soon, she told the darkness

The lamp would sparkle

And so would her smile.

Let the world watch-

Eyes wide in wonder,

Heads hung in shame,

At the bygone life of a woman

At the unseen layers of women

Who gave and gave and gave.

II

The waves crashed at her feet

A flurry of white and azure

Rolling over the golden sand

Mesmerized by the life she led,

The adventures she had

The smiles she shared.

The years of her childhood

A distant yet vivid memory;

A shepherd girl with dreams in her eyes

Flashed through her veins

To flow into the sea.

She wanted to know-

To learn, to live, and to love

So she fought, ran, and won

To prove that she could.

The waves crashed faster,

Eager to unravel

The secret of her strength

That settled forever

In the stubborn set of her shoulders.

III

Cheers & claps, bouquets & best wishes-

Gifted, blessed, and lucky, they gushed

The dance was her talent, they said

The dance, they did not know was her soul

Passion, madness, and devotion, she sighed

The words stuck in her throat.

Assured by the breeze surrounding her

She let the ready applause of the world

Sink into the rising tide

As the graceful movements on the stage

Gave way to a gay abandon on the cliffs.

She would dance to no one's tune,

Said the fire that burned in her heart.

IV

How long, she wondered

Eyes intent on the trodden path

Did she carry the weight of her family;

Sometimes pots, sometimes baskets,

And debts every time of the day.

Walking through the fields, banks, and sands

Braving the sun, rain, and wind

Until the day she heard from a sister-

'The day you stop is the day they learn.' 

Now she sat there on the wall

Ready at last to teach her child

Before the burden shrunk her into oblivion,

The same lesson she chose to ignore.

V

The magic of the wise woman worked

The lamp began to glow again;

Flickering a faint amber glow

To drive away the black & white

Bringing the divine rays of hope.

Reflecting in the depth of her eyes

The realization sparkled anew

What would the world have been

If she wasn't the woman she was?

**********

Paintings Credit: Ratna Pochiraju 
(Ratna aunty, your paintings have always been inspiring me. This post belongs to you as much as it belongs to me.)


 “This post is a part of ‘The Woman That I Am’ Blog Hop #TheWomanThatIAm organized by Rashi Roy and Manas Mukul #RRxMM”