Author: Reena Saxena

“Many stories which are not on paper are written in the bodies and minds of women.“ – Amrita Pritam

in our weakness we find strength

to be a woman is to weep
love hurts because our hearts love deep
and for love’s sake, women lose sleep

to love and nurture is part of our nature

monthly cycle of cramps and blood
hormonal emotions of changing mood
endometriosis, cervical or breast cancer too

even childbearing brings tears of joy and grief

belly stretch marks, skin tags and bags
age and gravity means beauty sags
hot flash sweats feel like dishrag

have women not bourn and mourned enough?

must we also suffer the shame of porn,
abuse, rape, abortion, sexual scorn,
abandoned by lovers in the morn?

godly women clothe themselves in dignity and honor

______________

Linking to dVerse Poets where Punam introduces us to poetry of Amrita Pritam.

Their Stories

Browse the archives, finger-brush ancient tablets
looking for their names—

you may find a few,
the chattel and relicts of men,

repositories of seeds, like the Earth,
their roots in deep-time connection,

they whisper stories–
conquest, war-spoils, love, and loss,
their children, don’t forget.

A double dVerse challenge:
a poem inspired by a line from the work of Punjabi poet Amrita Pritam, and a quadrille (44-word poem ) containing the word “browse.”

Some of you know I’m a historian. I’ve spent a lot of time in archives trying to uncover women’s stories.

(There are) many stories which are not on paper,
they are written in the bodies and minds of women.
— Amrita Pritam

I hear her each morning
before she rounds the corner
heading to the well.

It is a shuffling, almost furtive,
where her worn sandals
scuffle hard-packed dust.

It would have been kinder to kill her,
but he is not a kind man.
Something about her scuffle
excites him. Reminds him of
the strength it took to take her —
to break her.

Yet there is something else
there in her sound that
rounds the corner each morning.

It is determination.
It is refusal.
It is victory.

Punam is today’s guest host for dVerse’ Poetics. Punam says:
For today’s poetics I am sharing five lines from various poems of Amrita Pritam. Use anyone of them as an epigraph, or as a springboard for your verse. Write in a form…

(There are) many stories which are not on paper, they are written in the bodies and minds of women.
Amrita Pritam

his, “will you cook for me forever!”
that had seemed the most romantic question then, was my undoing
as I happily immersed myself in pots and pans,
tied to the invisible post of domesticity; I lost my true ‘self’

my turmeric stained fingers had no time to stain paper
measuring lentils and rice, I forgot to weigh in my views
relegated to the background
I became a mere prop; useful but useless

every night i braid pain, pillowing my head on it
uncoiling itself, it slithers on to my chest
humming a mournful berceuse to lull me to sleep
the moon wanes dolefully behind pewter clouds
smudging my cheeks, as i forbid the tears from falling

oblivious, uncaring and narcissistic
he sleeps deeply, purged of his angst and…

Anchor

i have been longing for a place
of refuge, from the hypocritical
inhabitants called humans.

i wish for a paradise
where my soul and conscience
could be in unison with nature.

but i couldn’t find one
i gave up looking, turned myself
into my own paradise, my own island.

i am threatened by conflicts
i don’t stay connected
“privacy” is my last name.

i take pride in exercising
freely my own solitude
and my independence.

i fear being needed
my defensiveness
is largely unconscious.

i am often deemed
antisocial
selfish.

who cares, that’s what
an island is suppose
to be; isolated.

i like it that way so far
no fuss, no drama,
no agitation, no uproar

until came along you
i surrendered, took on refuge
held on tight

to you
my much
needed anchor.

for Eugis Weekly Prompt:

https://amanpan.com/2022/05/31/eugis-weekly-prompt-island-may-31-2022/