Brave

This poem is third in the anthology of poems based on the Social Evils.

Please read the previous ones here.

This post is an ode to the strong, fierce women who are survivors of acid attacks. They go through immense physical and emotional pain but still manage to rise from the ashes like a phoenix.

Approximately 1,500 acid attacks are recorded worldwide annually.But globally, 80 percent of acid attack victims are women and girls. Acid violence is categorized as a form of gender-based violence because gendered roles and hierarchies within families and society not only motivate perpetrators to commit the crime but also provide them with a sense of impunity.The idea of this evil is not to kill but to disfigure the women.

I salute to all such woman, who after going through a life-altering incident has never backed down, never given up and showed the world the real strength of a fighting soul.

 

” He has changed my face, not my heart. He has burned my face , not my dreams”

                                                                           –Laxmi Agarwal, acid attack survivor

She is fierce, brave

Braving the world

Facing the wrath

atoning sins of her ancestors

 

Living  a misogynistic truth

Pushing through the hurdles of the society

blending in the traditions

Standing tall in the face of the lies

 

She is ignoring all the scars

on her face, on her soul

every pore of her body emanates her glow

She is strong enough for every slap now

She can smile through her pain now

 

You can drag her through the mud and slick

You can scrape her knees and make her bleed

You can make her scream till she chokes

But you can’t make her hide

the face which glows.

 

Picture credit: Google.com

Following are the links to the previous anthologies I have published

Seven Deadly sins

The Five Elements

Life Cycle of a poem