Poetry 2012, Longlist Chandra Deshmukh

No, I Won't

I refuse to inherit cruel conditioning
I will breathe my own bizarre air
Call me a rebel if you wish
I don’t deny, nor do I care
Bare feet on filthy roads
A brutal smile to each stranger
I refuse to manicure my untidy nails
Bring on your so called, wild danger
I laugh aloud, I live in a trance
Doing an imperfect, abandoned dance
No regrets, no repairs, not even guilt
No, I don’t need a second chance.
Gaudy skirts, scarves and stilettos,
Faces smeared with gold-plated foils
I prefer the sweaty grains on flesh
Caressed by streams, sky and soils
Tag me a forbidden outsider,
Call my life a bundle of waste
I choose to live on my own terms
Indecently passionate and chaste.