Little Girl Poem by Souren Mondal
Little Girl
I
And she stands in the room
with downcast eyes
as I scold her for
breaking the frame of my
favourite painting.
Her eyes are downcast,
she fidgets with her fingers,
and her hair falls on her
face,
but it can't hide the sweet
grin of my daughter
because she knows that I
can never be
angry with her for long.
II
We go out for ice creams,
Strawberries and chocolates
are the ones she loves the most.
And she drops hers and starts to
cry,
So, I give her mine and it makes her smile,
It is this smile of my daughter
that keeps me wrapped around her fingers.
Having ice creams,
having tea-parties with her barbies,
playing football with her,
making her meals,
packing her bags for school
Goodnight kisses, cuddles and
Bedtime stories,
All of these,
each moment of seeing her grow up
is the most wonderful thing.
III
And I am down on my knees,
praying for her
outside the operation theatre
How could some daemon do this
to a five year old?
What screwed up world are we in?
Are they going to say that her polka dotted frock
was too provocative?
Blame it on my child?
They can say anything,
those monsters,
all of them
Nobody would have known either
if she had not been hurt this bad.
The school authorities are still trying to
shirk responsibility,
some angry mob are vandalising the school,
not because they care about her,
but because they like to take out their frustrations,
some random news channels are debating
But I care for none of that,
I cannot even bring rage into my heart
for the fiend who did this,
I care for nothing but my child,
I want her back,
my life, my love, my everything.
And when the light in the Operation
Theatre is off
and the doctor comes
out with a mask on her face
that makes it impossible for me to
read her face,
I know, either ways I will be left
with a portrait of a little girl in a
broken frame...
The poem might be disturbing for some, but still I did feel that I should raise this issue that we barely talk about.. Please leave a comment if you read this, and most definitely think about this..
Reading it over again, I nearly cried. Powerful Souren. So very powerful
The poem is brought full circle in the last three lines. The frame which was only semi-focal in our introduction to the characters becomes the metaphor for the entire story itself. You have a way of writing your poem a dozen steps in advance. I don't know if this is through premeditation or simply your brilliance. At either rate, it is a great gift Souren. The poem may be thought disturbing by some, as mentioned in your note. But it is not this poem, but the true evil ways of man that it narrates, which is disturbing
Your commentary is nothing short of brilliant! If more people could think like Souren Mondal does, our world would be all the greater to reside in. Thank you Souren, again and again, for your viewpoint and wisdom
Thanks Mike.. This poem was and is this most exhausting write of my life so far... It was not a very pre-planned poem so to say.. I was watching the news when such a story came to my view.. The father was asked questions that were pathetic.. They blurred his face to protect the identity of the child, and all I could get was his voice.. Rarely in my life had anything hit me like that, and I have had a few things to deal with in my life.. I was disturbed and pained, and I wanted some respite, but at night a news channel set a darn panel of 'experts' who were talking about the incident.. I left watching news at that time.. A few days later I sort of re-discovered Rotari's wonderful 'portrait'.. The painting reminded me of the 'little girl'.. From there the idea came into my mind.. Not many people want to talk about sexual abuse of children.. To be frank, I have myself been a victim, and I know about a few more of them.. The stories are always horrifying.. All of this came into play while writing this.. But it was very spontaneous.. I never spend more than 10 minutes' worth of time on any poem of mine.. I like to write out my emotions and the things I have very strong feelings against.. The rights of children should be preserved at any cost... There is no excuse for evil.. None...
A a a curse to the jungle we have thought we left behind us.Simmering the heart on imagining what is there meant.Welldone to be meant.
Let us protect her and, let her grow with the works of the truth. Nice piece of work.
I am not getting words to praise this great poem. It shakes or conscience. i read so many poems every day, comment on it and forget, but I can never forget this heart touching poem.
Thank you Javed saahab. We need more talk about this issue. Such things are happening all around us, there are monsters who have no humanity in themselves whatsoever.. This needs to go. Children must feel safe. Their childhood cannot be ruined. Never.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/24/2024 2:48:20 AM # 1.0.0.1119
it's not your well-penned poem to be disturbing - you have avoided to go deep, choosing to describe just the ''pre'' and the ''post'' of the 'story'. It is violence on children that is disturbing. Abuse on children. And not only on children.. women, also, and on ALL the 'frail souls'..
Thank you Fabrizio. I well and truly believe that these are the issues that we nedd to talk about if we are even remotely going to come anywhere around a solution.