The Woman I Am to Be

By Aprajita Rai

I want to be the woman who’ll dance among stars

Unshackled by ceilings, unchained from the bars

I’ll chart my own course through the silence of space

With courage unbending and infinite grace

I’ll gift myself flowers in gardens I sow

And master the hours where both burdens grow—

The desk and the dishes, the meeting and meal

In all that I carry, I balance and feel

I’ll stand where my shadows once silenced my song

And teach my own fear it has lingered too long

Still my parents' soft light, their pride and their gleam

Yet fierce in my fire, and bold in my dream

I'll pilot the heavens, command skies untamed

And walk twilight streets without needing a name

I’ll cherish a man—not to complete me

But to stand heart-to-heart, both equal and free

I’ll gather not fans, but voices that see

The fire and the freedom that live within me

I’ll carry my nation with each step I take

A storm and a sunrise for justice’s sake

I’ll know my own worth—not in whispers or doubt

But sung from within, a triumphant shout

I’ll cradle new life, be its first breath and guide

A cosmos of power and peace at my side

So hear me, O world—don’t tether my sky

Grant me my wings. Let me rise, let me try

I’ve so much to live, and so much to give

And all of it now, in the woman I live.

By Aprajita Rai