A Paramount Woman Poem by Saritha Ayyath Madhusudanan

I am wild, I am queer,
I am bold, I am fierce,
I am a daredevil, a wanderess,
And they say I am not a woman

I am not size zero. I am shape zero.
I don't burn my daylight under the roof.
I persist. I demand. I read. I react.
And they say I am not a woman.

You can no longer hear my sighs,
No longer my tears will flow,
Never will my dreams wither,
Because I am a woman.

Look at me.
I am deep like a sea. I am calm in a storm.
I can stand up for myself.
I can bear a child, I can swing a sword.
I am fearless. I am peerless.
I freewheel with umpteen hands.
I rein my own saddles.
Because I am a woman.
A paramount woman.

Saritha Ayyath Madhusudanan