Shruti Singh: Figures of Thought: Collegiate Voices across Spaces

Claustrophobic

I am in a man’s world,

Piecing my lies together, to fit in a perfect pretty box.

Snatched, carved, dodged from corner to corner to the point of self-hate.

A touch that never loses its feel, 

A noose that never loosens and lets me free,

I am scared of vanishing into the thin air.

The numbness from outlasted pain never matters,

not from outside this place.

Oh! You have to doll up, nobody prefers a gloomy face;

Too tight, oh! Too loose, won’t set the right mood.

Walk with your back straight,

Come on! don’t mount up your chest.

Can’t talk about the truth and be accused of being fake,

Open your mouth and they’ll shut it right back.

I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe

In a man’s mind I am jailed;

I will speak, I will speak

I have to break free.

***

Her Day

Let me speak,

This day has been allotted to me.

Yes, I am a Woman.

I’ve been bare, I’ve been buried,

Still on the stairs, a Woman terrified.

At fall of the light,

The pacing feet, the beating heart.

A shadow in the dark,

She hides, holds her breath.

A fear she can’t catch up to.

Is the sun any better?

Those flashes of perverse for so many years,

It’s no more a terror, no more a shock

Just a mere disgust.

Do they sell metal glasses?

A phobia of the child,

the corner, the carpet, a bed, a floor,

have you stood on that railing?

Has your waist been left alone?

Are your breasts a burden no more?

You are a Woman,

Did your feet find you a home?  

***

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Author's Bio:  Shruti Singh is a 1st year B.A student in English Hons. at Patna women’s college, Patna, Bihar. She is an enthusiastic writer, her interest lying in both prose and poetry. So far, she has participated in several open mic poetry competitions and has been a co-author in anthologies. She takes pride in being a woman, her goal being to raise a voice for all the things that are unsaid in a woman’s life. She says, “the first step is to speak up and let’s start from there.” She writes from her own experiences and imagination but most importantly she writes out of passion and love for writing.

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Setu, June 2021