An intense, woman-centric poem, by Dr. Roopali, exclusively for Different Truths.

For you alone the roasted yams and the lentils….
you have eaten enough,
have you not eaten your husband 
our Prince Vidyut Jihva?
Should you not have jumped into the pyre of 
sandalwood and fire?
 
Here, take this rough piece of cloth 
wrap yourself in it, we will cut your hair,
and break your green glass bangles,
wipe the vermilion from your forehead 
a woman without a husband 
is an inauspicious lump of flesh 
no man must look at you.
 
Surpanakha with fingernails like winnowing fans  
beautiful daughter of Vishrava the sage
widowhood barricaded her in a lifeless cage.
In search of the forbidden fruit of desire 
She faced prince Lakshmana’s horrific ire.
The swift swish of a sword’s masculine rage
couldn’t destroy her sublime feminine courage,
bleeding ear and nose, her inner monster rose 
and the path of bloody war she chose.
They feel no guilt for her evil blood spilt,
A widow did dare the ugly head of desire to rear 
her sin, how can anyone spare?
The daughter of a sage filled with just rage, 
a ranting inferno, left the widowed cage,
a monster woman she stepped into the mighty world.
 
A world where deep in the intestines 
of the earth swift metro trains
carry crowds in its bustling belly.
Here who knows, 
where you come from
where you go 
only your stiletto heels 
tick tock on the pavement and 
you don’t crane your neck
 to see the skyscrapers 
scrape the sky.
 
Just that steaming 
hot cup of coffee
at Starbucks that 
lone looking man and
the fetid hotel room,
where desire is 
only a streetcar.

Visual by Different Truths

Dr. Roopali Sircar Gaur

Dr. Roopali Sircar Gaur is a poet, travel writer, and social justice activist. A former professor of English Literature at Delhi University, and a creative writing professor at IGNOU, she is a widely published academic and creative writer. Her book Twice Colonised: Women in African Literature, is a seminal text on women’s socio-political empowerment. In 2020-21, she co-edited two poetry anthologies – In All the Spaces: Diverse Voices in Global Women’s Poetry, and Earth Fire Water Wind.

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