Born And Delivered Poem by Joy Kirt Sidhu

Smiles and flowers awaited my birth,
Named even before being born
I was the one they wanted
The one they waited for.
A girl, true to type,
Welcomed & celebrated by all.
The first born
The darling babe
Of uncles & aunts
Cousin brothers & sisters
& most importantly of my dad & ma
My name was well considered & discussed
It had to be universal & yet a symbol
of all that is good & pure
So it was Joy
A joy to all
My name a reminder to me
To be a joy to all
& yet the world around closing in on me
Each passing day
Telling my folks that after all
A girl is a girl
Be it joy or otherwise
They didn't waver
Or lose their faith or hope
When their ‘joy' returned
Deserted & lost cursing her fate
Of being born but not delivered
Of the age old burden
of being a woman
With her daughters
Unwanted & slighted
Their arms opened wide
To embrace not one but three
Joys to their aging bosoms
Born and delivered.