GIRL!!

“The girl stood in the middle of the bushes,

and took in the air” -a line out of a book

Read those words for me, I said

I wish I could read.

What does it mean?- “took in the air”

I wish I knew the meaning of these words.

Father beat me blue black,

Why?

He saw me.

He saw me.

Trying to learn how to read,

“Fraternizing” with the boy across the road,

All because I told him to teach me to read.

“It is a regular rite and it’s to ensure your chastity”

Mother said.

As she mutilated me.

“I don’t like him, he is papa’s age mate”

I tried telling Mother,

when they were marrying me off.

But guess what?

I was told to shut up,

Sit in the corner,

Sharpen my kitchen skills,

After all I was just a girl,

and that is all I am good for.

So I ran

I ran faster than man,

And so,

I became the girl who took in the air.

And I read

I read to fill my head,

And I was…

Set free.

Being a girl seemed to be my woe

The curse that followed me since birth

But alas!

If I were born again

I would still choose to be a girl.

Because being a girl is not my curse,

The people around me were.

And with my new found freedom,

As “the girl who stood in the bushes and took in the air”

Happy international girl child’s day.