Society

Tired from all the chaos of this world,

I sat alone in silence to reflect.

At first I couldn't hear my own voice,

It was covered with all the outside noise.

"You body is disproportionate and your skin so dark"

"you need a man for your journey to embark"

"You can't cry, you're a man"

"Being emotional is only the right of a woman"

"Lose some weight and he will come back to you"

"Put on some make up and you will look pretty too"

"Money, Power and possessions is what defines you"

"Be a provider or you will end up alone too"

"This isn't your home, you belong to another family"

"This isn't your home, you have come from another family"

"You're not a man, if you don't pay"

"Equality is a woman's fight, you don't have a say"

Living all my life with these fears,

I broke down into tears.

I asked myself, if my identity even existed?

why my rights have been so restricted?

Found an empty space within,

seeking to be understood beyond my skin.

This need for fitting in was killing my soul,

Lost myself while playing all the societal roles.

Why do we chase perfection?

A desperate need for external validation?

Why have we created a society like this?

Which is concealing humanity into a dark abyss!

I took a pause and sighed,

There's nothing now which I was gonna hide.

I ain't defined by how I look,

rather for the path I took.

Neither am I defined by the things I own,

Nor by the flesh or the bone.

I am okay to be odd,

And accept being flawed.

For being Human is my foremost right,

Where imperfection is my guiding light!!

-Akanksha Singh