The Mirage Of Equality Poem by Ila Manish

The pain ripping through her very soul,
A blur of red and down she goes.
Only to rise again.


Her salt-stained face,  
               a marble of tears,

As the cataract is torn
       from her eyes,
The mirage of equality runs dry.
         Fanned by the winds of  blind persistence,
        Insisting on a system that no longer works.

Her body shivers at unwelcome fingers,
The world seemingly pivoting to a screaming halt,
And the very earth takes up her shrieks. 

As her mind takes up the cry of revolt and defiance,
Rearing - a horse writhing in its harness.

Breaking free from chains she had not known she was bound by,
Leaping over hurdles she had not seen approaching,
Skidding to a halt and looking back,
Only to see it all on rewind.