Poetry 2011 Longlist, Arpita Ramachandra

Plea of A Foetus

I was barely blessed with life
A labour of love, a moment of triumph
Well hidden underneath the angel’s wings
Unknowing of the morbid songs Man sings.

An inch to an inch
In the measure of a pinch
Of all eclectic shades
The palette of colours before me laid.

With starry awe-struck eyes
I soaked in everything with never a ‘why’
With each unending passage of time
Could be heard my rhythmic heartbeats’ chimes.

Blissfully unaware of the ‘Judgement Day’
I never knew that later I’d never have a say
“A Girl! We refuse!” was my only acknowledgement
never did I dream to be trapped in this predicament.

Had destiny erred?
All my effulgence blurred
How wrong was I, I dwelled
Not to have recognized fate’s knell.

My eyes were to be shut
even before my first breath
Weighing a mere few kilograms, an encumbrance I was
And preferred was my death.

Don’t I have a heart,
A mind, a soul?
What was so wrong with me
That made you cry so foul?

Can’t I grow up to dance,
To sing, to play?
Or was my gender enough
To make my life a throw-away?

Even the twinkling stars in the night
Is each unique in its sight
So does every spike of grass
Have its own pride, its own class.

Breathe life into me
Don’t snatch my soul from me
Let me see the rainbow, the sunshine and twilight
Give life a chance, it’s a forever delight.