Hello my dear asters, hope you are doing well. Today, I’m here with a poem about yet another topic that’s close to my heart. And I have nothing more to say, let the poem do the talking.
The sky is blue and pink
And there’s a breezy wind.
I’m on the bus in the window seat,
And my phone’s pinging a message for me.
It’s a question from a friend
From the conversation yesterday night,
Are you a feminist too? He asks.
I type… I pause. I type again.
I see that my stop has arrived,
And I lock my phone.
The sky is now dark,
Distant stars and the moon light up the night sky as I walk home,
The road is empty,
And the street light is dingy.
I hear my own heart beat,
As a sense of dread looms upon me.
“Is that footsteps I hear”, I ask myself
Paranoid. I look back,
Home is just a street away,
But I do not feel safe.
Not when I wake up to such dire news everyday,
Sending a shiver down my spine,
News I wish I stopped hearing every other day,
Innocence broken into pieces,
Life drained in front of their loved one,
A Precious being forcefully taken away against their consent,
And all the instances that I struggle to word.
Will I be able to shout out loud?
Will I be able to hit and run?,
Are questions that fleet through my mind.
But do I actually deserve to go through all of this?
I think of how this walk back home filled with panic has become so normal for me.
And I reach home.
My mother is making dinner and,
my father is watching a movie.
I see my mother among the smoke,
while she cooks, like every other day,
For all these years that passed by.
That night,
When I log onto my phone
I see the same message of a male friend asking me casually,
Are you a feminist too?
I heave a sigh.
I type…
I pause.
I type again.
Hit the send button.
It’s a single word. Yes.
No explanation, no long paragraphs.
I ask myself the same question?
This time tears roll down.
What do I say?,
When my heart paces during my night time walks,
And my heart breaks down when I hear brutal news,
When I come to see the women around me struggling to be equal,
And I see my friend’s dream being crushed.
So to the ones asking me if I am a feminist?
My answer is yes.
Until the day the scales balance.
Author notes :
- There are a lot of hidden messages in the poem. If you know, you know.
- Hope you like it, asters. If you like my writings, please do leave a comment, it will make my day.
If you want to read my latest post on how to find your way back to life during this lockdown: Click here
If you want to read my poem on toxic masculinity: Click here
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