With a Flickering Lamp

Life was not a bed of roses for many women              who, for time eternal,             left footprints and paved our path, so we can walk with our heads high.              often ponder, and imagine the unimaginable  power and strength,              behind every step, every action, of those brave women              who appear in my dreams!              often wonder about Gargi and Maitryee in ancient history,              who wrote vedic hymns along with other scholars,              of Khona, who sacrificed her talents in astronomy to barbaric cruelty,              dream of being a Jane Austen, a Charlotte Brontie,               who used their pen in a male-dominated society,               to portray a  world where female voices were suppressed.               a face familiar to me, appears in my dream,               a courageous  woman from a humble household,               who...tirelessly engaged in numerous daily chores...all day,               but at midnight...children  sleeping,               with a flickering oil-lamp at her bedside....               without a soul being aware of  her insatiable pursuit of knowledge,               ardently pored over classics and novels and poems,               a saint deeply immersed in profound meditation.               society did not approve her goal,               but she challenged the superstitious beliefs -               women become widows if they indulge in literary activities.               That picture of a lonely woman poring over books at midnight             with an oil-lamp...as her only support, is all I need for dreaming of a world where women find freedom from age-old shackles.   Reference: Gargi, Maitreyi: indian women philosophers who lived during the later vedic period (around 9th to 7th century BCE) in ancient india, as knowledgeable in vedas and upanishads as men of the times, and very well contested the men philosophers in debates. Khona: brilliant poet and astrologer, who composed between 9th and 12th century in ancient India (according to myths, was forced to give up her passion, so her father-in-law and husband retained their fame). March 7, 2021 FIRST PLACE Inspired by " Life's Struggles" Poetry Contest Sponsor: Constance La France