Dr Molly’s poem deals with human-made certitudes, weeping willows, and gendered yokes: a lament and rebellion against the taken-for-granted, hierarchical order, exclusively for Different Truths.
caught up
in the
certitudes
set up
by man
with stooping
boughs
willows
weep, wait...
drip, drip!
teardrops
fall on the
misty mundane
shrouds
that envelop
all...
taken for grantedness!
it was always
already
there from beginning...
gender,
male, female
all binaries
hierarchical
that set up
walls
privileging
on
over the
other...
Sex and
semen
mattered...
women
who crave
for a fond
look, care
space, time,
togetherness
taken for
granted...
She to fulfil
duties,
be it as a
housewife, working
woman,
being
squeezed
into
sex objects
in weary
nights that
need rest..
or
doll like
showcased
in parties,
pubs...
willow weep...
whither
has disappeared
tender care?
are you ok
kind of word,
looking into
the very eyes?
Willows weep.
hearken!
apart from
weeping
stooping
willows
there arise
rebellious
ebullient
young, resilient
ones
who strut,
stamp their
feet, defying
gender
yokes!
flouting all,
seeking
the similar...
the way
challenging
natural order...
yet, the
average
still stoop
and suffer
the willows
weep....
Picture by the poet
Dr Molly Joseph, a bilingual professor and poet from Kerala, has published 26 books, including 18 poems, two novels, and two storybooks for children. She has edited “A Handbook of Contemporary Ethics” and works for values, global peace, and togetherness. Dr Joseph has won national and international accolades and represents India at SAARC and FOSWAL literature meets. She believes in the power of the word and writes boldly on contemporary matters.
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