I Just Feign

 

I wish you would never ask me how I am,

Because the reply would be a lie

A lie to shield some hidden pain,

That I would mumble, without meeting your eye

Once the loudest voice in the room,

Now hunts for a desolate corner

With a desire to merge with the shadows,

That voice, now a silent mourner

Even though exposed to broader thinking,

Open minds of a liberated city life

My soul belongs to a small town,

And mixed thoughts of a bitter cold strife

Where a woman when, stripped of her identity,

As a mother, daughter or wife

Ripping off the last bit of respect,

Societal norms represent a knife

Don't ask me about my dreams

Because a woman must bury them

And replace her desires with someone else's

Nipping hers off from the stem

I must hide the dark truths of the past

As uttering them scares me again

Maybe too outrageous to be believed

So when you ask me, I just feign.

Niharika Prasad