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Vaishnavi Nandakumar Poem
Today, I stand at candor’s peak
And yet, they all still look down on me
A prosecution of the persecuted, shall I witness
As Damocles’s sword hangs over my head
Today, I looked at the man who decides my fate
The courtroom’s god commenced the Judgement Day
“Do you plead guilty to murder?” He asks me now
I say I do without a shadow of doubt
Today, the toxic air of hypocrisy choked my conscience
The court was filled with a deafening silence
All of them knew, yet none of them could say
How the murderer of today was a victim of yesterday
Yesterday, the girl walked along a lonely street
It was after six, the sky was dark the skirt was slightly above knee
She walked along the lonely road, not a soul in sight
But she heard the monster following her, with hunger in his eyes
She panicked, she ran but it was a futile chase
For when the moment was right the predator pounced and devoured his prey
She tried to run, she tried to fight
To the depths of terror her heart had sunk
But the girl was too weak for the hungry swine
And so she ended up a rag doll for the dirty drunk
Yesterday, the girl cried back home
The family was aghast on seeing her bloodstained clothes
They cried not for the pain, but for her lost virtue
For now they had to find her a secondhand groom
When she went to the court, they said it was her mistake
No one lighted candles for her at the India Gate
The rape was the headline of one day, history the next
An outrage on social media but no one bothered to check,
How her case was thrown out the door for it was her mistake
The skirt was disgustingly above knee, she shouldn’t have been out late
Yesterday, the girl realised she was all alone
She hunted for the predator,to liberate her soul
She walked along that lonely road, for she knew where he had been
The prey turned the predator , she doused him in gasoline
She lit a burning match and let the fire calm her fears
For the monster’s screams were melodies to her ears
Today, I told my story , now they listen to me
As i watch the tables turn, i mock the irony
The god looks at me with stern eyes, he asks “Do you repent?”
I gave my answer, they gave their verdict- it was a death sentence
Tomorrow, I walk to prison as a free woman.
The blatant irony makes me laugh.
Everyone knows why, but they dare not ask
For as I'm charged with manslaughter, apparently justice is restored
But where was this justice when the monster butchered my soul?
Copyright © Vaishnavi Nandakumar | Year Posted 2018
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