In the market nothing can be had as cheaply as women. <br /> <br />If they get a small bottle of colour for their feet, <br /> they spend their nights sleepless for sheer joy; <br />If they get a few bars of soap to scrub their skin <br /> and some scented oil for their hair, <br /> they become so submissive <br /> that they scoop out chunks of their flesh <br /> to be sold in the flea market twice a week. <br />If they get a jewel for their nose, <br /> they lick feet for seventy days or so, <br /> a full three and a half months <br /> if it's a single striped sari. <br />Even a mangy cur of the house barks now and then, <br /> but over the mouths of women cheaply had <br /> there's a lock, <br /> a golden lock.<br /><br />Taslima Nasrin<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/things-cheaply-had/
