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61

Poetry

Lifeless

Sheetal Agarwal

A screeching pain filled my belly
Seeing her in a pool of crimson fluid
Eyes pulled out, pelvis disfigured
Bite and nail marks adorning her body
My hands covered my mouth
Should my bawls breach ceilings high
My eyes searching for my beloved
Where is she?
Oh she is...err...was...so beautiful
Salty water drenches my face
Skies have fallen upon me and how
I drift away...

It was a beautiful dawn
25 summers ago
I saw her tiny little body
Soaked in crimson fluid
Her wails filled up the room
As the cord connecting us was cut
My eyes gleamed with tears
My trembling hands held her gently
Nourishing this fragile being
Minute by minute, day by day
Into an infant, a toddler, a teenager, an adult

It was only yesterday
She left for work
Waving goodbye ....
.... with a smile that lit up my world
As the day turned into night....
... Darkness engulfed our lives
Every nook, corner we searched
Looking for the apple of our eyes

And then came the moment, that dreadful moment
Uniformed men came bearing the news
The world around me started spinning around
It's a nightmare, I thought
But alas, it was not

Her story tore my heart apart
Kidnapped, gang raped, brutally beaten
Then thrown away on the road
Unfathomable trauma she endured

Looking at her lifeless form
I wondered, what did she do wrong?
From a bird ready to conquer higher skies
Why did she become a victim of her circumstances?
Where has humanity vanished?
Couldn't she have gotten away with a little abuse - a touch here, a grope there
Like me and countless other women?
In that case, she would have still lived a longer life....

What can I do now?
In a land of blinded law
Can I ever avenge her?
As I grapple to live with this sorrow
Those monsters roam free
Looking for their next prey
And more monsters emerge everyday
When will this torture stop?
Will this fear ever end?

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