NaPoWriMo Day 20: Obnoxious Men

Our prompt for the day  takes its cue from Notley’s rebelliousness, and asks to write a poem that involves rebellion in some way. The speaker or subject of the poem could defy a rule or stricture that’s been placed on them, or the poem could begin by obeying a rule and then proceed to break it (for example, a poem that starts out in iambic pentameter, and then breaks into sprawling, unmetered lines). Or if you tend to write funny poems, you could rebel against yourself, and write something serious (or vice versa). Whatever approach you take, your poem hopefully will open a path beyond the standard, hum-drum ruts that every poet sometimes falls into.

So I have been in rebellious mode for quite a few days with respect to all the heinous acts happening in our society. It’s been bothering me for sometime and it was a perfect day to vent it out. I actually wrote two poems on the same issue but posting one here.

                                                  Poem: Obnoxious men

A child is raped and burnt alive

By strong living beings who call themselves “men”

Insensitive of the age and innocence

All that matters to them is the sex of the child

A shameful act to be condemned for ages

But does our responsibility end just there

Is there nothing we can do to chasten such men

Would we meekly witness such deeds in future

Are such acts a measure of virility of men

Is womanhood merely a pleasure for them

Was a woman created to just satiate man’s wishes

To use and manipulate as men please

Who is at fault when a woman is molested

Whose dignity is lost when a woman is assaulted

Do you assent that such a woman should end her life

Is it really a woman who should cry and hide

What legacy are we going to present to our children

Do such men deserve to be called human

Are such men entitled to absolution

Aren’t they monsters disguised in the soul of human

©Vandana Bhasin