Veiled Voices Poem by Nalini Jyotsana Chaturvedi

You hide your own vulnerabilities
behind my thick dark veils
for you know I am the strong one
and you the one who's frail

This veil
that covers my full form
like solders dressed up in uniform
we are meant to look alike
but for the practiced eyes
there is so much to decipher
Individuality crushed heartlessly
behind these coverall styles.

So many aspirations,
emotions and expectations
that have been shut out.
for fear of your destruction
caused by volcanic eruptions
eruptions from free thoughts
that have been sealed under pressure
but have never ever been lost

Caged in this piece of cloth
I have no identity to boast of
An unremarkable silhouette
Condemned to live as back drop

I do have a voice
that you have muted
by your choice
But if you ever knew
There are songs of revolution
Hidden behind quite poise.

You know of my strength
As mother, sister, wife
Daughter and friend
You also know of my weakness
That in loving lays my essence.

But soon you all will see
We will be blooming ever so free
There’ll be sisterhood of fragrance
As we break fake rules of dominance
And pretentious suffocating peace