I Was Born Here

By Pratishtha Singh

I was born in a country where

Goddesses are prayed and yet

After seven months of my birth

I am lying dead inside my grave.

My parents had huge dreams for me

They wanted me to reach the sky

But this world was full of those demons

Who killed me even before I could know who was I.

Up here with me I have many like myself

Who were killed for lust by those demons

The demons who are still walking free and

Looking for someone else to send up here to me.

My parents were protecting me from the world

But my killers were living with me

The safest place called HOME

Became nothing more than hell for me.

Respect for women in this country

Just sounds utopian to me

As irony of this world is that

They pray me for blessings, when they see my figurine

But when I gain life, they just cruelly prey upon me.

By Pratishtha Singh