"Draupadi"

Lost in my own nightmare that I am, Krishna find me,

Persecuted for being in my own body that I am, Krishna rescue me,

Consequentially bartered amongst, out of the devil’s inexplicable aggression and leisure,

The devil you constructed to protect me and provide,

Tough, arms well built, the one who you bestowed upon the robust muscles.

Cut in pieces, ripped off my self esteem every day, for satisfying the man,

The man you created to complete my incompleteness,

Who I conceived, nurtured, and dutifully fulfilled at every step.

I was his wife, who he put up for sale, in return for his fake grandeur,

In the hands of the sly.

I was his sister, who he undressed in public, as the reward of the game,

And didn’t identify.

I was his daughter, who he banished and dismissed, for the love of his sons,

And couldn’t justify.

All the while, with my eyes closed, I remembered you,

I resisted.

I prayed my hands folded, holding on to the faint memory of that one time you saved me,

And he persisted.

The soreness of my wounds, doesn’t impress anymore,

The redness in my blood, hasn’t remained alarming enough,

Not to him, and I suppose not to you too,

You’re a man too, after all,

And this world… is the man’s world.