An intense poem on child abuse, by Parvathy, exclusively for Different Truths. 

I am a Keralite, in all pride
I am a Malayalee, in all prejudice
I am a woman, in all demeanour
I am a mother, in all scare
I am a teacher, in all modesty
 
But I am nothing when I live here all helpless.
when I find, my little girls are killed,
After the thirst of lust is done with.
I am nothing when I live here all helpless.
and scariest of each moment,
not just of strangers alone,
but inside home, even nook and
the corner our girls walk, so innocent.
 
Where should I hide my girls?
Where vultures, in thirst of flesh howls
and they eat and later they kill.
Didn't their mothers' quench their thirst,
in their infancy?
Weren't they taught in schools, modesty, and morals?
No words flow again, and I am dead
Hands do shiver, in fear,
When my little ones in their younger
ages, never know of the vultures around.
 
Before, I grew into a woman.
I too have been a little girl.
Who knows again the pain and pang of abuse-
Abuse
Child abuse
Sexual abuse
Call it anyway!
The mental trauma, it puts in you,
Won't leave you, until memory fades.
Better you get killed!
 
Girls! My little ones'
you aren't safe on this earth.
The globe, doesn't belong us
Even when we bear life
Even when we give birth
The place isn't meant for us
And we are abused and killed.
 
And even now, your mother too
wakes nervous by midnight,
when her childhood memories
haunt her still,
though she puts all courage,
In all her demeanour
to face the world in will.
And humans in vulture's inner coat
They dwell here in abundance!

Visual by Different Truths

Parvathy Ramachandran

Parvathy Ramachandran is a writer and an academician. She started her career as a teacher at Al Noor International School, Bahrain, before she joined TKMM College, Nangiyarkulangara as Assistant Professor of English. She has also served Sree Narayana College for Women, Kollam. Parvathy’s fields of interest include poetry, short fiction, Transcultural studies, Gender studies, etc. She has presented papers national and international seminars. She published her debut anthology of poems, Late Night Lantern