The night was just like any other <br />In the dim lit veranda flies buzzed <br />My mother’s skin burning hot <br />She lay motionless on the torn mat <br />My father hovered over her with bare feet <br />Green herbs he pressed to her lips <br />Threw angry glances at me <br />I cried as not to wake her up <br />It is only her milk filled breast I seek <br />They whispered in the dark corners <br />Bundled in a old sari smelling of her sweat <br />Wrapped with calloused hand in rage <br />They didn’t have to dig for long <br />I smell earth fresh and wet <br />Cold unlike my mother’s full womb <br />It is darker than the night <br />Soothing somehow <br />My mother did not even know my name <br />To my father we were all the same <br />Womb to grave by the passing night <br />Having no penis, even before it began, I lost the fight<br /><br />Reshma Ramesh<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/just-a-girl-8/
