I cannot bow down
And I won’t keep Quiet.
I cannot bow down to their wrongs
I have seen them molest my sisters
I cannot remain silent when she cries at the remnants of their devilish laughter.
There are guards outside her house who say “you’re a princess made to live within the glass door”
But am echo by tells me inside that glass is broken easily by stones which were thrown at her after she was the victim of their cruelty
‘Victim’ I should not say so, she is the survivor of the crimes they do not acknowledge and continue to do so.
Age of soldiers it is today.
Women are using blades to cut the golden cages
“Freedom , freedom” the bird cries “it’s too shady here”
Sunshine and the breeze of open skies call her to the horizon.
I will not bow down
She will not bow down to their wrongs
She does not need to.
This poem was written in 2017 in response to the brutal rape and murder of a 16-year-old which shook Himachal Pradesh, India in the summer of 2017.
After several delays and investigations, the accused was convicted and given life imprisonment.
This is a heartfelt poem written in horror of the brutality.
Her trauma lives on in hearts of millions of women everyday.
