I remember the moment,
that I became a woman-
The day my maturity and my innocence was seized from me,
mutilated to such a point,
where I couldn’t recognize it myself.
I remember the day when they jeered and leered at me,
pulling and tugging at me-
like I was a rag doll that submitted to their every demand,
Because it was my fault,
or so they said-
It was my fault,
that a man laid his hands on my body-
laid his filthy hands in areas where they did not belong,
Ignoring my protests that echoed across the room,
like it was a small voice at the back of his head,
which he had no trouble pushing away.
But yes,
I was asking for it,
with my tight kameez,
and my exposed head-
God knows that if I was modest,
and hid in his shadow,
he would’ve never committed that atrocity,
he would never have been tempted by me.
Because my self respect, my dignity-
it means nothing to them.
To loose my virginity,
is only my fault
and not his-
who blatantly stole it from me.
In their eyes,
he’s a bright star, shining in the sky
and I am the black hole that sucks in every thing in its sight.
In their eyes,
I am a parasite,
that leeches on to every man in its sight-
They think,
I ask for what I do not want,
They think I ask for somebody to violate my body against my own consent,
They think I ask for him to go in places where no one has ever been,
They think I ask for him to throw all my rights in the bin where they belong with other terms like “gender equality” and “rape”,
because who cares about what I want,
I’m there for your pleasure only.
Right?
Wrong.
I am a woman,
this is my body,
you do not get to decide what you want to do with it;
It is not your property.
My rights are as valid as yours,
My voice reaches to the heavens and beyond,
Do not think that you can squash me that easily.
I will rise,
I will become the voice of those who you wronged,
those who you subdued,
like they were your own.
You cannot escape that which is bound to come,
that which was promised the day you decided that your life was worth more than hers,
when you decided that suddenly you were super power and she had to obey you,
the day you decided,
that because she is a woman,
her self worth, her rights and her consent were no longer important when compared to yours.
Now when you close your eyes,
I hope the darkness that haunted me will haunt you-
the image of all the women who’s bodies you violated,
will come to back to bite you.
You will never be alone,
for as long as one woman speaks out,
The revolution will carry on.
The seed will grow into a massive tree,
it’s branches extending to the skies-
bearing the fruit of hope and strength,
that all women will grow inside them,
in replacement for what you stole.
You think you broke them after what you did,
but it only made them stronger,
and under the shadows,
they rise like the sun at dawn-
they rise like the moon every night-
they rise and the movement continues,
slowly but surely,
like a burning flame,
in the darkest nights.
