Rage-For Jisha

Rage

We are the women
you undress with your eyes
and then you wonder why we don't smile wide 

We are the women
you acid wash
and then you exclaim when we scar. 

We are the women
you bury alive
and then you ask why we choke.

We are the women
you set on fire
and then you complain when we burn.
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I am woman,
hear me cry
when my sisters burn
and daughters die.

I am woman,
watch me rage
when our futures hang
on flimsy tips of your desire.

Don't tell me I was in the wrong place
at the wrong time
wearing the wrong thing.
Because I am the woman
you break and tear
in every second of every day,
in every corner of every space
in every fabric's every fold.

Don't play the blame game.
Don't tell me my anger is misplaced and
wonder why my hate
radiates through my pores
and sears your mind. 

Listen,
I am the woman
you use and throw.
Now watch my wrath
pierce your soul.

[For Jisha, a Dalit student who was brutally raped and murdered in her own house.
Us women have been set on fire again and again and again,
Since the beginning of time.
We say ENOUGH.
Now take a seat, and feel the heat ]