Poem | Richa

Credits: Amrit Ghosal

Disgust

Only if I could cast off my clothes
My underwear
My nipples, my breasts
My uterus, my clitoris
And that womb.
My vagina too.

Shed all my womanliness,
So I could show you
What I am and what I have
Become because of these.

What have the straps of my bra,
The scratch of my dupatta,
The prick of my anklets,
The play of your gaze,
The burden of your expectations,
Done to my being?

Then you notice
The design of my mind,
All my cunningness and my tricks
My compromises
My sweet voice…
You surely know all of that!
Do you also see my half-hearted consent?
Do you care to ever see?

Let me tell you loud and clear
It's disgusting to be sweet!
It's awful to be caring
It's insensitive to give consent 
With half a heart.

Piercing is painful
Nose, Ears,
And...And waxing !
To look beautiful
Is ugly.

But only if I could
Cast off everything, .
Just about everything!
So I could tell you
My truth and yours too.