Voices, separated by a floor
Don’t dare tell her she’s worth more
Than what she’s been bargained for
Hands have been shook
Brooms to replace the book
They change her look
Her jhumka pull her down
And with the weight of her gown
They hide her frown
Freedom has a gender
Nothing wrong with selling her
If she’s the burden and you are sure
The fine will set her free
His worshipper, his devotee
For that, she must plea
Where’s the dignity?
Choose while she did
Many choices were hid
She was always to be bid
Tears as the doors close
Even the darkest heart knows
It’s the first of many woes
Girl child no longer
A naivety to harbour
Daughter to monger
Here, her honour on the line
Intact? Oh, how divine
At her porcelain fragility, the heavens pine
No fraction of her life’s work
Will ever meet the worth
Of her innocence at birth
The girl child, the curse
Heart heavy and pocket light
A dream has died tonight
Figure forever out of sight
Happiness, too, has drowned
Salty tears flooded the playground
A moment of silence for the ghost-town
Raise a shrine for the dead
She can’t sleep on that bed
Don’t leave, they’d said
No weapon and no trace
Just a solitary embrace
Nothing to erase
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