Being a girl.

(By Palak Nath, Poetry Editor, Paprikashta)
I often feel and want to say,
why am I forbidden to be happy and gay .
Why does everyone tell me to be calm and stay,
Just when I am about to set fire to my way .

I have always wondered this, as in my bed I lay
when will come that day ,
when I’ll not be forbidden
and when seeing me free
wouldn’t make others so grief ridden.

I know ,Being a girl comes with
unwritten responsibilities and expectations ,
But no one told me about all these limitations.
Why do I have to fight
To have what’s my birth right

‘Don’t do this, don’t do that ‘
Everyone uses me like a door mat.
Why should I stop when its dark and late.
And to top it all,
they are now telling me not to enter the temple gate?

Why am I forbidden to have a voice,
To make a choice
Why are my views, my thoughts,
regarded merely as a noise?

It’s a thought that’s deep
I have an opinion which I wish to keep
Give me wings, let me fly
Give my dark world a better sky…