WOMAN THAT I’M!
whoever said
tears make
a woman weak
it's her way to
gain more
strength
emptying out
the unwanted
stuff
don't we bathe
to feel
relaxed?
yes, I do have
tears abundant
yes, I do have
laughter in loads
yes,
spirituality springs from me
as from anyone
else
I'm soft
powerful and
practical
yes, in pride I
say
I'm a gift and
it's not my bother
if you fail to
recognize my worth!
REBEL AT HEART
I’m a rebel at
heart;
compassionate
and warm...
I close you in
like
a storm and
pull you
into me like
a whirlwind...
I appear
chaotic and
at times
anarchic too!
not once
without a smile
or ready to
shed a tear at
any form of
misery;
I’m morning
hymn and
a distant
melody heard
through a thick
dark night—
I’m myself; a
woman!
SHOW
ME A MAN …
It
took me several decades
of
childhood, youth and middle age...
note
this my sister,
man's
way to vagina needn't be
invested
with love;
a
caress can also be a soft rape
the
words of love crooned
are
preamble to a rape of sorts-
show
me a man who understands
the
heart and mind of a woman?
show
me a man who, nurtured at
the
mother's breast, doesn't look
at
breasts beyond lust...
I
may have a frail heart
but
I’m forever tough
and
flexible to accommodate
as
much as my womb is...
made
of softest of the softest
my
feminity lends me toughness
that
no man can ever conceive...
I
learnt to celebrate my supremacy
over
your fragile masculinity...
Dr. Indira Babbellapati, is a
widely published poet and translator. She has five published poetry collections
to her credit and has translated into English all genres of Telugu literature except
drama. To name a few, Night of Nectar (Tilak's Amritam kurisina
raatri) for the Sahitya Akademi, Asampoorna, the Incomplete, Into a
Crowded Aloneness, (originally in Telugu by Raamaa
Chandramouli) are some of her poetry anthologies in translation. Her
Own Way, a book of Sahitya Akademi award winning short stories (by Abburi
Chaya Devi in Telugu) is under publication with the Sahitya Akademi. Besides,
she has also contributed to ‘Gold
Nuggets’, the Sahitya Akademi's publication. Journal of literature and
Aesthetics, special issue on Translation carries her translation of Allam
Seshagirirao’s Prince Hemmingway. Some of her poems have been published
in Postcolonial Discourse, an online literary journal from
Canada. Indira's poetry can be accessed on many online poetry portals. Dr.
Indira Babbellapati may be reached at drbindira@gmail.com.
Wow, Indira! What a novel way of looking at the woman's tears, when you strikingly say: "whoever said | tears make | a woman weak | it's her way to | gain more strength..."! And how deep you have penetrated a man's psyche when you observe "a caress can also be a soft rape"! You are both sweet and (mildly) stinging.
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