Rashmi Balakrishnan

With a heart so huge and a mind so strong,
She went around doing her stuff,
The manicured fingers,
The highlighted atrands of hair,
She seemed to fit the bill for a beauty.

On the streets, people turn around,
She blushes at comments,
Her heart aches inside.

A daughter at heart,
A woman in the making,
She is still finding her way around, in the world.

She is taught to forgive, love and compromise.
She is told to forgive, love and compromise for others.

So, when a random hand comes along
Touches her,
Feels her,
Violates her,
She is uneducated here.

She wasn't taught to deal with viloations of her self.
To love herself and respect herself.

Maybe, she moves on.
With guilt, pain and heaviness.

If she raised her voice,
She'd be held up.
Spoken about.
Her manicured fingers, highlighted hair,
Her bosom, her curves,
Suddenly they'd be all culprits.

She prefers silence.
She prefers moving on.