I am a woman

I am a woman

Since ages and beyond time

I have endured

Innumerable torment

Making my heart sore

Always carrying exhaustive load

With determined dignity

And a composed smile on my lips.

I am a woman

Who has birthed humanity

Carrying heartbeats 

Effortlessly in my womb

And enduring immense pain

During the birth of those beats.

I am a woman

who has been tormented

To the brim 

filling up oceans with tears

Sometimes hyper-used to fulfill

Wild, carnal desires and lusts

And sometimes sold in markets

For the same.

I am a woman 

Occasionally worn 

As an adornment for men

Who pride themselves

About bestowing 

Honor and veneration

To me

So that I can walk

On earth with dignity.

I am a woman

Often at the merciless mercy of men

Who  boast of how they protect

And provide shelter to me

And safeguard me

The same being who has shielded

These men in my  womb

When they could barely whisper.

I am a woman

Since generations

Bent and haggard

Under the weight of

Monumental expectations

To carry out every maneuver

With flawless perfection.

I am a woman 

Sometimes explosively

Forced to become the epitome 

Of sainthood

And elevated to a pedestal

I can barely stand on.

I am a woman

Whose minuscule mistakes

Can become a heavy sin to atone for

When judged under the microscopic eyes

Of Male vanity.

I am a woman

Sometimes hit and abused

Both verbally and physically

By hollow, ruthless men

Who love to take advantage 

Of my frail fragility 

And a pining, loving heart.

I am a woman

Who has even endured

Becoming a puppet-doll 

In the savage hands of men

Who play with my emotions

For their vicious amusement.

I am a woman 

I  cry my silent tears

Hidden away from cruel gaze

In the darkest of dark nights

Emotionally exausted, empty and alone

And wake up with stoic resolve

The next day ...

To pretend and smile and laugh and nurse egos and kiss away hurt and care and tend and cajole and entertain and work and be selfless and giving and grin and bear......