And come ride the Poetry Train...
pleasure was all yours, pain is now mine;
you walked away, leaving me to die.
is it my fault, I came into being?
I didn’t have a choice, but you had one.
why was I than abandoned by you?
if this ignominy is existence for me-
death I would have welcomed
wholeheartedly, within your womb
"no one has ever given me a voice"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wrote this in Sept 2006 after reading about a newly born girl who was left in the bin to die. She survived but not everyone is so lucky. In India, this happens with children who are born out of wedlock. I edited it a bit and reposted it here. Nothing has changed in this part of the world in the 18 months when I first wrote this.
This is a powerful poetry monday. That hurt my heart. Well done.
ReplyDeleteThat is so very sad. :(
ReplyDeleteMaybe some hard heart will be touched by what you have said, and will consider her ways . . .
very sad, the saddest thing is that it still happens so often
ReplyDeleteBefore I read your note, and the second part of the poem, it made me think of a rape victim.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way that you have, Gautami, of take political and social issues and putting it up into such beautiful poems!
Powerful. An important issue raised well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with cgp...
ReplyDeleteThis was so poignant, Gautami... thank you for writing about it. It's important...
:)
Powerful words Gautami...
ReplyDeleteI've been reading "The Worst Hard Time" It's about the American Dust Bowl in the '30s and there is a story in there about a baby left on the porch of a church in a box, obviously in the hope that someone would care for the child, but no one saw it for over a day... Painful.
Heartrending! Well done. Unfortunately, this issue is becoming more prominent everywhere.
ReplyDeleteThis kind of event happens in the US too, especially when the mother is very young, still a child herself. You do a wonderful job putting yourself in the place of the voiceless infant. what a hard beginning for the babe.
ReplyDeleteAt first, I was thinking it was a relationship poem; I'm glad you gave us the explanation at the end.
ReplyDeleteIt's sick that we can't do more to effect a change. I really wish we could.
Life is tough for so many in this world. This is a touching and thought-provoking tribute to the little girl. Excellent.
ReplyDeleteThis was definitely worth reposting! What a sad situation. You wrote this so well!
ReplyDeleteThis is a really painfully honest poem. I face similar heartbreak where I volunteer in the city. These voices are never heard...
ReplyDeletehttp://lucricausa.wordpress.com/2008/03/22/the-choice/
ah, but the voice not given is often a powerful voice indeed. from great tragedy come great souls. here is to when we no longer need great souls...
ReplyDeleteyour depth and ability to paint such a painful picture (of reality for many) is just amazing. thank you also, for your kind comment on one of my poems.
ReplyDeleteThey are abandoned here, in the U.S., too with both fates as children there. I wrote a poem about such a child a few years ago, too. We shouldn't have to write those poems.... We just shouldn't.
ReplyDeletea wonderful and poignant lament!
ReplyDeletesuch a difficult place to be in--unplanned pregnancies
ReplyDeletei wonder too about the women what makes them leave these children behind, how miserable or challenging their existnece must be to end up in this awful place where they do an act like this
heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteThere was a reason I wasn't able to read these before now- just can't deal with the very topic I proposed!!
ReplyDeleteOuch.